Self_Actualization_A_Process_Of_Making_Real_Or_Giving_The_Apperance_Of_Reality

By Paulina Trzeciak

We don’t know how to exist anymore without imagining ourselves as a picture. [6]

In times of visual acceleration and constant updates the process of defining and understanding our digital persona is blurry and ambiguous.

Self_Actualization_A_Process_Of_Making_Real_Or_Giving_The_Apperance_Of_Reality is project about self-obsession and the analysis of fragmentation and instability of the self. Or to paraphrase: the dynamic self, based on mutual processes of deconstructions and temporary reconstructions, is contrary to the modern ideal of the stable and consistent self. Humans are so busy pursuing complicated forms of self-actualization that at some point they would like much of life to be assembled for them, as if from a kit.

In this multimedia installation, Paulina Trzeciak brings together some of the photographic production tools of a self-actualizing selfie culture with a critical investigation and transformation of her own digital selfie debris.

Research

I started my research by diving into my selfies archive, safely preserved in the form of a grid on my iPhone and Instagram. I was fascinated by the way in which I could (metaphorically speaking) consume media with my online activity and self-exposure as well as media consuming me as a user in return.

Sources

[1] Tolentino Jia (2019) New Yorker: The Age of Instagram Face. Available from https://www.newyorker.com/culture/decade-in-review/the-age-of-instagram-face (accessed 25 May 2021).

[2] Rimbert Pierre (2016) No Such Thing As Free Data. Le Monde Diplomatique 11. [3] Wilk Evia (2018) Introduction: Melting the Coin. transmediale/journal face value edition 4. [4] Peraica Ana (2017) Culture of the Selfie: Self-Representation in Contemporary Visual Culture. [5] Rist Pipilotti (2000) Open My Glade (Flatten).

[6] Amelia Jones (????) Self Image and Technology?

Data

Selfie photographs from Paulina's Instagram archive (all of them are made with a help of face filters and effects).

Prototypes & Experiments

KEY WORDS: FACE; SELF-EXPOSURE (screen as a contemporary mirror); RELATION BETWEEN DIGITAL AND REAL SELF (natural vs synthetic); COMMODIFICATION OF OUR DIGITAL SELVES; FACE VALUE; DIGITAL SURVEILLANCE;

Outcomes

Self_Actualization_A_Process_Of_Making_Real_Or_Giving_The_Apperance_Of_Reality is a three-screen video installation in a form of a triptych. Screens are portrait-oriented as a reference to the 16:9 phone ratio.

Video Screenshots (in process)