Self-Representation in an Expanded Field

Description

Defined as a self-image made with a hand-held mobile device and shared via social media platforms, the selfie has facilitated self-imaging becoming a ubiquitous part of globally networked contemporary life. Beyond this selfies have facilitated a diversity of image making practices and enabled otherwise representationally marginalized constituencies to insert self-representations into visual culture. In the Western European and North American art-historical context, self-portraiture has been somewhat rigidly albeit obliquely defined, and selfies have facilitated a shift regarding who literally holds the power to self-image. Like self-portraits, not all selfies are inherently aesthetically or conceptually rigorous or avant-guard. But, -as this project aims to do address via a variety of interdisciplinary approaches- selfies have irreversibly impacted visual culture, contemporary art, and portraiture in particular. Selfies propose new modes of self-imaging, forward emerging aesthetics and challenge established methods, they prove that as scholars and image-makers it is necessary to adapt and innovate in order to contend with the most current form of self-representation to date. The essays gathered herein will reveal that in our current moment it is necessary and advantageous to consider the merits and interventions of selfies and self-portraiture in an expanded field of self-representations. We invite authors to take interdisciplinary global perspectives, to investigate various sub-genres, aesthetic practices, and lineages in which selfies intervene to enrich the discourse on self-representation in the expanded field today. Self-Representation in an Expanded Field From Self-Portraiture to Selfie, Contemporary Art in the Social Media Age MDPI • Basel • Beijing • Wuhan • Barcelona • Belgrade • Manchester • Tianjin • Tokyo • Cluj Blank Page Selfie-145.pdf Introduction A Brief History of Self-Portraiture, and the Evolution of Self-Representation Selfies: Visual Culture Intervention Narcissism: Reactionary Rhetoric Concluding Thoughts References Blank Page Blank Page religions-981445.pdf Introduction Sita Kuratomi Bhaumik in conversation with Patrick “Pato” Hebert Sita Kuratomi Bhaumik in conversation with David Lydell Jones Conclusions References Blank Page arts-1022111.pdf Introduction Divahood Love Politics Touching Gestures Diva Relations and Self-Love Conclusions References Blank Page socsci-898511.pdf Introduction Ground Figure Eight Screen Selves Tina Takemoto, Semiotics of Sab boychild, DLIHCYOB—directed by Mitch Moore A.L. Steiner—Swift Path to Glory Cassils—Hard Times M. Lamar—Negro Antichrist Kia LaBeija—Without Love directed by Jacob Krupnick Awilda Rodriguez Lora—A visual and sound journey of La Mujer Maravilla (Wonder Woman) 2013–2015 Evan Ifekoya—My Tender Touch Screen Conclusion References References Blank Page arts-513556.pdf Introduction Materials and Methods Durational Self-Portraits, Pre-Mediation, Proto-Selfie What Is and What Is Not a Selfie Results: A Competition Timeline The Artists, Locked in Heated Battle, and Their Projects Who Began First? Who Is Consistent on Consecutive Days? Who Created the First Time-Lapse of Self-Portraits? Who Had the Greatest Social Impact? Other Significant Contributions and Heated Competition Discussion of Influential Forms and Themes Remember You Will Die and Live Forever, Virtually Influence of the Neo-Avant-Garde Post-Modern Performative Shift Technical Developments for a Social Medium Presentation of Self in Everyday Life Digital Artifacts and Tangible Media Instagram in the New Polaroid Conclusions References Blank Page religions-842179.pdf Introduction The Beginnings Ana Voog Isaac Leung Petra Cortright Ann Hirsch Kate Durbin Molly Soda Common Features Artistic Motives Online Identities Online Interaction Oversharing Censorship Conclusions: From Web 1.0 to Web 2.0 References Selfie-193.pdf Introduction Visual Communication Analysis Generation Selfie Performing the Self Allegories of Femininity Defacement as Media Criticism? Media Practices of Creating Anonymity Conclusions References Blank Page Blank Page religions-911552.pdf Introduction Cosmopolitan Magazine, Glossy Covers, and Selfies Cosmopolitan’s “First Ever Selfie Cover” The Design of the Influencer Cover Selfie The Politics of the Commercial Appropriation of the Selfie References Blank Page Selfie-365.pdf Introduction Travis Alabanza Representation, Racialization, Gender, and Trans Femmes in Visual Culture A Brief History of the Discursive Framing of Photography Photography Now Alabanza’s Insta-Interventions Between the Image and the Subject Deploying the Strategy of Pattern Jamming Decolonizing Beauty Parting Thoughts References Blank Page Blank Page Blank Page Blank Page Blank Page Blank Page Blank Page Blank Page Blank Page Blank Page Blank Page Blank Page Blank Page Blank Page