Post 2 + Contradiction Selfie

            The following selfie is inspired by Lulu Cipher's work, "imposter palace." As I say in the
assignment, this piece is near unintelligible, with the exception of a hand holding what seems to be a mouse, a keyboard, and a series of dots connected to each other. I say that the various things we do and post about ourselves on the internet tends to cloud our image and who we really are. My selfie is similar in that respect, as I purposefully include two elements that contradict each other. I wear my RePUGlican shirt, symbolizing the fact that I am a registered Republican (I really am), and I hold a custom made "Hillary for President" sign which contradicts the fact that I am a Republican, and that I highly dislike her, both as a person and a candidate.

            There are several themes present in the Wonder Women X exhibit. One theme, represented in Jennifer Marie Torres’ work of a ceramic upper-body, holding her breast while looking into the mirror, is insecurity in one’s body image. Mediha’s “StaticFriction” possesses the similar theme of insecurity, but more in her identity and less on that of her body. Stephanie’s “Growing Up,” in which she acts as a mother to a bunch of other hers, essentially taking care of herself. Meredith’s theme, in her work, i.am.meme, is womanly stereotypes that are imposed by society. Hao Feng’s theme is taking a selfie from one’s point of view, rather than taking a selfie of one’s self. The theme of Lulu’s work is, simply, the chaos we create through our use of the internet.

            Each of the artists who had their work present in the present had their own unique way of addressing one’s identity and the selfie. Some of the works attempted to get their intended message across through the use of humor and silliness, or even the reverse of that. Meredith does so with the use of the popular internet meme, using images of herself and meme background to exemplify her views on a how a female, and female roles, are forged in society’s stereotypes, while partially maintaining the humor behind the internet meme in some images or, in other images, using little to no humor. Miss Feng’s work takes a perspective of looking up, while showing what she sees through silly little sketches doing miscellaneous activities. The ceramic piece starring into the mirror is self explanatory. The “imposter palace” work is near undecipherable, and it is meant to be like that; everything we post about ourselves, from selfies to visiting places, the internet skews ours and other’s perspectives on what our image and self is.

            The biggest critique of self, identity and perception, that I have found, was in the mini biography of Miss Feng’s work. It is said that “our generation is obsessed with selfies and they have narcissistic tendencies.” This obsession and narcissism is not mutually exclusive to any specific age group, but rather, people of all ages. Not everyone is prone to these tendencies, but those who are, can be more or less affected than others. Hence, Feng’s work, which is the “anti-selfie,” going against the norms of what defines a selfie in today’s day and age.

            Now, it is time to go more into detail about the near indecipherability of the work, “imposter palace.” All of the images in the work are purposefully made so they are difficult to read. The images on the left and right are exactly identical to one another with the exception of them being mirror reflections of each other. In them, are a series of dots connected to each other, probably representing all the times we document ourselves on the internet. In those same images, there looks to be a hand, likely holding a mouse, and in the center image, there seems to be a keyboard. Also, the projector in the room is pointed toward the center image, with the projection flickering. Whether this was intentional, or a simple technical error, it certainly adds the confusion created by the work. All of this is meant to represent how our self and identity can become skewed on the internet, the more we post about ourselves.

            The video loop that is Mediha Sandhu’s work deals with what may be her insecurity and personal struggle on her identity. On the right, the loop shows her being visually angry, and rage filled, which likely is what she feels internally. The left another image of her wearing her hijab and a blank, white face, likely signifying how she feels externally; un-unique, no identity to set her apart from the others. When combined, these looping images represent her not being unique in society, while also struggling to be able to express herself, in some way, somehow.

            The artists are each giving us their own message. Some of those messages are unique, and others are very similar. Each of them takes a unique approach in their imagery, although some of those approaches are near-alike to one another. Milcah Bassel uses near-precise gridding, and video time acceleration to convey her self-image, where something can be made out initially, but it eventually fades away after there are less and less squares left. Jennifer uses a cast, probably of herself, and a mirror to present her image. Jennifer’s work is unique in this respect, being the only one to make use of physical objects alone to convey her message. Milcah and Mediha utilize video editing and special effects. Some projects deal in similar topics, and others deal in entirely singular subjects like Stephanie and Meredith. These aside, they all have one thing in common, and it is that they all deal in the self and identity.