This article "See Lena Dunhams offensive selfie from 2007" is a part of the project We Think Alone a piece of a larger exhibition On The Tip Of My Tongue. The exhibition is commissioned by Magasin 3 Stockholm Konsthall a privately funded exhibition venue.
"On the Tip of My Tongue is a series of events and unique projects as well as an exhibition in the usual sense. It includes artworks that point away from the site of the exhibition itself, towards other virtual or parallel existences and experiences. Its intention is to actively expand the structures that surround the usual exhibition situation, and deliberately work with the artworks included, so as to unfix or destabilize the categories of time and space. It aims to trigger situations and experiences that linger as if “just out of reach,” to generate encounters that keep growing – in thought and through conversation – long after each actual event has ended." ( http://wethinkalone.com/about/ ).
We Think Alone is a project by Miranda July. This project is a compilation of 20 emails over 20 weeks from actors Kirsten Dunst and Lena Dunham, writers Etgar Keret, basketball player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Fashion Designers, sisters and founders of Rodarte Kate and Laura Mulleavy, to name a few. These emails were written prior to this project. Miranda July describes this project here stating, "How they comport themselves in email is so intimate, almost obscene — a glimpse of them from their own point of view. WE THINK ALONE has given me the excuse to read my friends’ emails and the emails of some people I wish I was friends with and for better or worse it’s changed the way I see all of them. I think I really know them now. But our inner life is not actually the same thing as our life on the computer — a quiet person might !!!! a lot. A person with a busy mind might write almost nothing. And of course while none of these emails were originally intended to be read by me (much less you*) they were all carefully selected by their authors in response to my list of email genres — so self-portraiture is quietly at work here. Privacy, the art of it, is evolving. Radical self-exposure and classically manicured discretion can both be powerful, both be elegant. And email itself is changing, none of us use it exactly the same way we did ten years ago; in another ten years we might not use it at all." ( http://wethinkalone.com/about/ )
I originally chose this article because the word "selfie" was in the title. The selfie has become the staple photo for most social networking platforms and a great pass time for someones boredom. Seriously though, a phone just came out with a button on the back of the phone for the sole purpose of the selfie. The next reason was because of Lena Dunham, actress, writer, director and creator of HBO's hit show Girls. Her show has been described as Sex and the City for the younger generation and "hipsters" alike, and has a huge following among young girls and women. I don't think her selfie was offensive. It just made me think about someone in her position and why she would choose to send that email? I thought this article touched on some major issues happening in the heavily mediated world we live in today. The selfie being a minor issue and sexting, through text, email, and snap chat a larger issue. After reading the above statement it made me think of these questions:
What should be kept private?
How would you classify private?
and
Do you think the selfie is an intimate portrayal of ones self or just monotonous?
- Raquel Fortunato
No comments:
Post a Comment