If you just go on Instagram and search the tag "selfie," it will yield millions of results. That's the state of individual image creation in the Western world today.
This ironic take on selfies as art reads: "The artist, displaying a bold new hairstyle of beaded braids, sent this photograph to 14 of her closest friends, accompanied by a heartfelt 'Wish u were here ;)'. This is just one in her famous Tropical Cruise Chronicles, a companion series to her Rustic Nantucket Portraits."
This blog takes the tacky and self-aware selfie and elevates it to high art. The high art aspect draws on the self-importance by which the selfie was created. Everyone in this day and age has to create a self, through Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Instagram.
In the realm of actual art, artist Cindy Sherman points out the self awareness and critically comments on the state in which we photographically and digitally exist. In some of her earlier work, she took random and discrete pictures around Europe and effectively captured the obliqueness that modern life seems to give us.
Today and more recently, however, Sherman faces the camera and models in all her own work. By making herself the centerpiece, Sherman communicates the basis of selfie-ness: the need for image creation and self-absorption through this process.
She comments on the selfie phenomenon by placing herself in ridiculous situations. Whether it be a bored, rich and image obsessed woman or a cool commentary on ancient Grecian painting, Sherman screams the message,"It's me, it's me, it's all about ME!"
However, she also points out the flaws in the image creation process by the plastic sandals and the caked-on makeup shown in the woman with the blue bathrobe.
By elevating herself to the status of these different roles, she shows us how easy it is to take on as many vantage points as possible. Truly, today, we can get out of bed and decide to create the image of a bored housewife or a runway model.
The Gay Lesbian and Straight Eduction Network, which works to ensure schools are safe for anyone regardless of their gender, has also reappropriated selfies as a way to spread awareness for the many faces of the community by promoting "Selfies for Silence." The group wants people to understand the different perspectives that each member has and what they have to say about their experiences.
The great thing about selfies is that everyone can be an individual and express themselves in the medium of social media that tends to completely obliterate the self.
While the medium communicates the mass view, the individuals that make up social media are completely different and completely self-absorbed.
One way that people attempt to redefine themselves through selfies is through the "Ugly Selfie Movement." This take on the old trick should allow people to be vulnerable and express what they actually look like. However, people end up posing ugly and framing their ugliness.
Real life does not fall within the frame of a camera, and it's extremely important for people to remember that there's more than just what meets the eye.
In our image-obsessed society, whatever looks good usually passes for what we should all aspire to be. Cindy Sherman and, in a different way, the "Ugly Selfie Movement," redefine what digital reality is by pointing out the cracks in the frame of digital culture.
Send Peter your best selfies at Peter.Northfelt@asu.edu or follow him @peternorthfelt
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