Authenticity on Instagram:
Conceptual Artists That Explore Identity Online
Master in New Media and Digital Culture
University of Amsterdam
Master Thesis
Date of completion: 4 September 2017
Lina Marija Kucinskaite 11313412 Supervisor: mw. Amanda Wasielewski Second reader: dhr. prof. dr. Robin Boast
2 ABSTRACT ... 3 INTRODUCTION ... 4 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ... 9 METHOD ... 14 1. FORMS OF AUTHENTICITY IN ART AND THE DIGITAL ENVIRONMENT ... 16
1.1. CONCEPTUAL ART AND THE PLATFORM OF ITS RECEPTION ... 16
1.1.1. THE ROLE OF THE SPECTATOR IN THE CREATIVE ACT ... 19 1.1.2. DOCUMENTING DIGITAL AND MEDIA ART ... 22 1.2. AUTHENTICITY AS IDENTITY ... 26 1.2.1. AUTHENTICITY IN ART ... 26 1.2.2. PHOTOGRAPHY AS A VISUAL FORM OF COMMUNICATION ... 30 1.2.3. AUTHENTICITY IN NEW MEDIA ... 33
1.3. INSTAGRAM AS THE REPRESENTATOR OF SOCIAL MEDIA CULTURE ... 38
1.3.1. SOCIAL LIFE ON INSTAGRAM: THE MAIN ASPECTS ... 38
1.3.2. AN ANALYSIS OF THE INSTAGRAM INTERFACE ... 40
2. AUTHENTICITY OF CONCEPTUAL ART IN SOCIAL MEDIA: CASE STUDIES ... 47
AMALIA ULMAN: CHALLENGING CLASS, GENDER, AND SEXUALITY THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA ... 49
ANDY KASSIER: CRITICISM OF THE NARCISSIST MALE ON INSTAGRAM ... 56
AUDREY WOLLEN: SADNESS AS A FORM OF RESISTANCE ONLINE ... 66
CONCLUSION ... 83
BIBLIOGRAPHY ... 87
LIST OF FIGURES ... 95
APPENDIX ... 114
3 ABSTRACT
In the contemporary art world, a new form of performance closely resembles the actions of a typical Instagram user. Conceptual artists use this social media platform to critique the digital society and perform online internet art series. This study examined three artists using their Instagram accounts for performance purposes. By the means of Instagram interface features, these artists manipulate the audience by presenting false self-representations or montages. This creative act addresses questions of authenticity, as it explores what that concept means in the context of new and interactive media technologies. However, the roots of the debate over authentic content date back to the beginning of the twentieth century. To investigate the construction of identity while present online, this paper reviews and examines authenticity in art history, photography, and the new media. This thesis discusses what authenticity means in digital spaces and how users can easily manipulate it via the Instagram interface.
4
INTRODUCTION
The online interactions within social media platforms have been changing in the last decade and shifted towards new forms of visual communication. The photo sharing social network Instagram puts a stronger emphasis on the image and helps to create a visual self-representation for users online by providing them features to document their activities. To a certain extent, social media platforms introduced a norm of sharing personal information online. Additionally, social media platforms have transformed how people function and interact by influencing each other's actions via visual content (Miller et al. 91; van Dijck, The Culture of Connectivity 4; Gatson 224). This shift constitutes a new and constantly growing importance of the publicly available self-representation on personal or professional levels. As the new media author Jose van Dijck argues, media plays an important role forming and changing our personal and general 'cultural memory' (Mediated Memories in the Digital Age 15–21). The notion of 'cultural memory' could be explained as a collection of private, history-based memories as well as a wider cultural domain of existing societal norms and structures. For this reason, people's posts' habits on Instagram led researchers to study human behaviour online. In this context, this study aims to investigate the questions concerning authenticity in user self-representation on Instagram.The research area of this study requires an exclusively wide glance over the problem of online self-representation. A specific method of research should therefore be undertaken. In the first part of this study the key theoretical concepts of conceptual art and authenticity need to be described, taking on board previous theoretical deliberations of different twentieth century scholars and thinkers. The specifics of the topic and object in this study also led to its structure. The first part focuses on preceding theoretical insights in order to build a general sight of the conceptual art topics in relation of various authenticity
5 concepts and online communication on Instagram. Therefore, this first part is divided in three main subheadings. The first subheading: ‘Conceptual art and the platform of its reception’ analyses the role of the spectator as well as the technological and social changes of documenting digital and media art. Finding the specifics of these concepts in cultural and social contexts is of prior importance to determine their relation with online communication within social media platforms. The second subheading is considering an overview of the literature concerning authenticity in arts what leads to the part dealing with photography as a visual form of communication and the inclusion of authenticity in new media. As this study will focus particularly on Instagram, it is beneficial to analyse the platform's online culture and its' features in the third and last subheading of the first part. Thus, an analysis of the interface might provide an insight to user behaviour helping to understand how Instagram guides the self-representation process. As the purpose of this study is to investigate and discuss authentic self-representation in contemporary digital culture, the second part of this paper focuses on conceptual artists performing on Instagram. To this extent, interviewing one of the conceptual artist was the most important research task adding a qualitative approach to this study. Finally, the investigation of their artistic approaches, their social communication and comparative analysis of visual content online closes the second part of the study.
While looking at the main concepts and artistic approaches, it is relevant to this study to define the differences between activities online and offline. The online or
virtual environment consists of non-physical actions and objects that come into
digital existence via software (van Dijck, The Culture of Connectivity 4). This form of communication is quite simple, and as it is extremely visual, it functions as both a supplement and an alternative to face-to-face conversations. For instance, the selfie, is a picture that is presented online of someone's face, illustrates how a user can
6 prove his/her presence somewhere or during a particular a moment in one image. Given this example it becomes faster to consume and get information online in this form of visual online language. The popularity of selfies proves the significance of visual communication in terms of sharing online aspects and emphasizes its role 'to maintain social relationships' (Miller et al. 183). These images not only connect people but also help to shape the mindsets, forms of behaviour, and actions of social groups. According to Bernard E. Harcourt this could be explained as 'the impulse to quantify ourselves, to monitor all our bodily vitals and variations and changes' (47). Given this idea, consuming this type of visual content presented by another user creates a strong link of associations between that person in real life and his online identity. This helps to portray an online self-representation by visualising someone's opinion, interest or connection to real life moments as well as influences other users to portray themselves in a similar way.
For example, face-to-face human interaction is not mediated by computers, smartphones, and other forms of technology such as in online conversations. These technological shifts in communication raise many questions and concerns about online society, the degree to which online materials reflect actual facts, and how digital culture influences human behaviour in the real world. Jose van Dijck points out that 'the widespread presence of platforms drives people to move many of their social, cultural, and professional activities to these online environments' (The
Culture of Connectivity 4). This tendency to move personal hobbies, interests and
social activities to internet platforms creates attachment to the online environment. The offline or real environment comprises those actions physically performed by humans, rather than via technology, and tangible objects that exist in that setting. The online environment is increasingly influencing offline human behaviour, as a virtual presence becomes a form of self-identification and representation. Anthropologist Daniel Miller suggests that we could also consider social media platforms as 'friends' because the communication there is strongly connected to the
7 people we know in the offline environment and we receive information about them via these platforms (208). Given this idea, users develop a dependence of platforms like Instagram as they want to keep up with people in their offline environment constantly seeking for new content and communication.
In addition to the dependency of the platform, authenticity as identity plays a central role in the context of online self-representation. As Koosel suggests 'creating authenticity in an online environment is merely a mediate, virtual form of identity formation and communication' (61). Given this idea, an authentic online presence can be defined as a genuine and honest documentation of a person’s offline life; in other words, it means 'being oneself' and capturing real life moments. According to Sarah Gatson social media platforms encourage users to share 'authentic aspects' such as their offline name, gender, age, location and attach a picture (225). This authentic online content resembles actual facts and modes of human existence. For instance, when users share imagery that is typically considered private (e.g., photographs of friends, family, material possessions, or the nude body), they are portrayed as transparent. Sharing such materials seemingly creates an authentic online self-representation and connection to the offline environment; however, the content could be suggestive and misleading. Alice Marwick suggests that there are 'markers' of authenticity such as speech (i.e. text), clothes or body language that can be manipulated or changed online; however, other markers as gender, age or race are not easily faked (Selling Your Self 12). By creating associations with certain narratives and categories that exist in real life, content can seem believable, even if it is fiction. Miller and other authors of How The World Changed Social Media present an idea that 'people seek to show the best or idealised versions of themselves to their peers, at least on the most public platforms' (156). This is especially true given the idea of Instagram and its' interactivity as the feedback from other users play a key role. Therefore, a user then tends to 'impress' others by the content he or she
8 posts that may sometimes lead to over-exaggeration or even fiction. However, online authenticity has become a complex notion, because of social media stereotypes, cultural memory, and interface features that allow users to manipulate others’ perceptions via digital photography. The content on Instagram, however, can be given a new meaning in terms of time or geographical location, and editing. These aspects can introduce further changes to a visual image (Manovich and Hochman). In other words, self-representation online is dependent on the posted content and could be manipulated. Furthermore, according to a visual arts scholar Carrie Lambert-Beatty, the notion of visual language can be described as parafiction, a concept that has recently gained traction in contemporary art as well (54). Given this, the generated online user data is usually publicly available and for this reason has attracted the attention not only of scholars but conceptual artists as well, as they seek to investigate the phenomenon of self-representation in online spaces by creating an internet performance act. This online self-representation intersects with the real world, as the personas and stories portrayed on social media are associated with narratives that exist in reality. Most importantly, social media content raises questions about the gap between one’s online and offline identities. This shift in online self-representation is thus changing how media art is created and presented to the public. As digital photography and social media platforms are the common means of constructing an online self-representation, certain conceptual artists (Amalia Ulman, Andy Kassier, Audrey Wollen and others) have begun to investigate questions of identity within such platforms.
9 Theoretical framework
This study discusses what authenticity means in digital spaces and how media artists explore this question on Instagram platform. Their creative acts address topics of conceptual art, authenticity and self-representation on social media. Therefore, it is beneficial to discuss and engage with the literature written on these three topics. Art critic and writer Lucy Lippard was the one of the first to recognise the notion of dematerialisation in conceptual art. New artistic practices that arose in the 1960s, such as photorealism, performance art, and conceptual art, have transformed how artwork is documented and presented. This concept is essential when discussing new media art, as it creates a new way of experiencing the creative act (Lippard and Chandler 1). On a related note, influential conceptual artist and writer Marcel Duchamp has defined the spectator's role in the creative act as the component that brings art and the external world together. Duchamp was one of the first to recognise that a work of art is an idea and not simply a physical object. According to him, a piece of art can be valued in terms of how it is experienced by spectators. In sum, Duchamp has claimed the spectator’s verdict has a significant influence on the true value of a piece of art, a creative act, or a performance (Duchamp). To this end, it is relevant to discuss those conceptual artists who create media art and online performances, as without the online community, such art would have less value. When it comes to the internet and social media culture, viewers also influence art, as they are not only spectators but also objects of investigation. This idea leads to a deeper understanding of what media artists are trying to achieve with their work, how it gains attention online, and how conceptual art functions in relation to digital environment.
10 The concept of authenticity is key for this study as a concept rooted in the arts discourse and the tight link with online self-representation. The philosopher and cultural critic Walter Benjamin is an influential author in the field of aesthetics and authenticity. His essay The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction is highly regarded in cultural and media theory studies. Benjamin's argument is that new means of technology in the twentieth century, such as litography, graphic art, and photography, have had an impact on how art is created and distributed. According to Benjamin, technological reproduction means the elimination of authenticity, as the ‘here and now’ is missing from artwork (21). This relates to the topic of this study as self-representation online is driven by the idea of being authentic, which is questionable due to digital technology evolution.
Furthermore, philosopher Denis Dutton has argued that there are several ways of examining authenticity. He has highlighted terms such as nominal authenticity,
expressive authenticity, and authenticity of experience (Dutton 258-275). Nominal
authenticity mostly refers to the credits of a piece of art: the name of the artist, the year it was produced, and the place of creation. Expressive authenticity defines the artist's intentions and the genuine feeling transmitted by the artwork. And finally, authenticity of experience may be impossible to capture, as it pertains to seeing a piece of art in its most natural form and setting. In these terms, viewing a piece of artwork in a museum is not considered authentic. While considering the discussion of that a photograph cannot replace an original piece of art, being simply a copy of it, it raises questions of how authenticity is transmitted via online visual content. Another art critic, John Berger, similarly to Benjamin, discusses how the medium of photography has influenced artwork. As part of the BBC television series Ways of
Seeing, which was later adapted into a book, he discussed how photography has
11 what we see and what we know and that our knowledge influences how we understand content (7). This is especially true on social media platforms as the existing real world narratives influence how we understand the content we see online. Berger has argued that with the invention of photography, art became transmittable. However, it is true that meaning cannot be imparted by a photograph (24). Berger's treatment of this idea is similar to Benjamin’s statement that photography cannot transmit the ‘here and now’ in the same way as artwork (21). Moreover, Tom Gunning have presented ideas about reproducing or copying content that are also relevant to Instagram images. He claims that although photographs could be considered a 'direct representation of reality', they can also be edited with Photoshop and other programs (Gunning 40). Such pictures are, in fact, filtered or highly influenced by existing editing programs meaning that they do not represent actual reality. According to both Berger and Benjamin, the value of a piece of art derives from its situatedness in time and space, as authenticity lies in experiencing art in its natural form. However, no other medium offers such a testament to the past as does photography and that it gradually became one of the main tools for creating a visual self-representation online. Starting from Berger's argument that photography has changed the ways we understand content, it is concluded that this technological representation is mediated via associations.
According to Jean Baudrillard in Simulacra and Simulation the information not necessarily 'produces meaning' (80). The author claims the communication that is produced by media messages becomes more and more simulated and familiar. This may be due to the staged 'desire of the audience' for social communication (Baudrillard 80). In addition, the visual art scholar Carrie Lambert-Beatty has discussed that facts presented as fiction could be taken for granted via associations if they fit existing narratives. In her work Make-Believe: Parafiction and Plausibility, she has defined the notion of parafiction as presenting fiction as facts
(Lambert- 12 Beatty 54). This process is quite common on social media platforms like Instagram, as some users tend to stage content by manipulating pictures to exaggerate facts, with the goal of creating a more attractive representation of their lifestyle which opposes the idea of being authentic. Given this, an image is not an exact copy of reality; rather, it produces certain connections and associations in users’ minds van Dijck, Mediated Memories in the Digital Age 12). This may lead to a false representation on the part of a digital image, with the creator’s editing choices leading to inaccurate perceptions. According to Lambert-Beatty, this tendency of
parafiction has recently become a trend in contemporary art, and even though it is
deceptive, this conceptual content presented by artists is experienced as real (54). On Instagram in particular, it is easy for conceptual artists to manipulate these fictitious stories, as they create a persona aligned with a certain social media role (e.g., model or businessman). Doing so causes other users to engage with the content as they are familiar with these roles in real life. These artists have thus demonstrated that users trust the content they see on social media as factual, despite it being staged or deceptive. Lambert-Beatty has also argued that every modern history period, and especially the digital network age, is considered less honest (57). This shift makes it more difficult to remain authentic, as spectators are more sceptical, and interpretations of information are more detailed, with users examining everything from the font to the webpage URL.
The academic Lev Manovich has studied Instagram culture in detail. With the help of digital tools and Instagram interface features, he has collected and made sense of Instagram user data. His projects Selfiecity and Zooming into an Instagram city:
Reading the local through social media illustrate how the Instagram interface sheds
light on both users’ online habits and cultural trends within contemporary digital society, providing a pretext for conceptual artists to investigate this online culture (Manovich and Hochman). What concerns the authenticity concept in online
self- 13 representation, Sarah Gatson claims that when creating a user account, one is asked to share authentic details such as 'offline name, gender, age' what then creates a connection with user's offline identity (225). However, Stacey May Koosel discusses the fact that in the online environment the identity is formed by means of 'text, photo, video, audio and so forth' whereas in real life a person is understood by more characteristics such as 'their movements, mannerisms and expression' (58). Given this idea, real life identity consists of more complex notions such as that could not be transferred via the Instagram interface. Due to this, the 'digital self', according to Harcourt, is constructed 'through our presentation of self and telling stories' (128). The user has control of the digital self so it depends only on them how they want to tell their story. Jose van Dijck claims the digital evolution has changed photography and made it more of a 'technological transformation' (Mediated Memories in the
Digital Age 118). For instance, towards the twenty-first century personal
photography has shifted and became more of an identity formation tool as it became more transformative and manipulative. What gives the power to control how people picture and represent themselves in the digital environment. Therefore, the questions of authentic self-representation online are being investigated by conceptual artists Ulman, Kassier and Wollen on Instagram.
14 Method The main method employed in this work was to undertake a comparative analysis of three Instagram accounts which were selected to illustrate the concept of authentic online self-representation. Direct interview and visual content analysis appeared to be the best sources of material for this discussion and reasonable empirical background for the study. The accounts of the conceptual artists; Amalia Ulman, Andy Kassier, and Audrey Wollen are investigating Instagram’s user culture and topics of self-representation through their online presence. The links that connects these artists are their focus on gender roles and online performances. However, what separates the artists is their approach towards authenticity online.
The aforementioned artists use their accounts to post pictures staged in a way that they believe reflects the existing mainstream characters and culture surrounding the Instagram platform. Ulman was one of the first successful Instagram artists due to the series ‘Excellences & Perfections’. To this end, it is beneficial to discuss her work in this study as it is intended to give a clear overview of the process of building an online identity. In addition to that, she also uses Instagram for self-performance as well as offering criticisms of contemporary culture. Moreover, a direct interview with Kassier is implemented in this study to learn about his performance as a rich businessman. The interview with artist provides some clarity on the topic of authentic online self-representation from Kassier's point of view. Kassier suggests that even though Instagram emphasises authenticity, that notion does not exist anymore. Furthermore, this paper includes a visual content analysis that has been conducted of Wollen's work on Instagram, her critical take on gender and political issues represents a different approach to media art. To express her political views the artist shares images of her body in relation to art historical paintings. Ulman and Kassier create a fictitious authentic self-representation, while Wollen's visual diary
15 on Instagram is clearly a documentation of her daily life, thoughts and activities. All of the selected artists address gender-related questions by performing a certain role online.
Overall, digital photography and new media technologies have changed how artwork is produced and presented. Performing and presenting art on Instagram, an online photography-based platform, is thus unique in that the artists directly involve users in the creative act. The spectators become, for this reason, an important component of media art creating a dialogue about authenticity in self-representation online. Taken on board the online medium as well as the intervention of the multiple actors, it is difficult to define whether content is authentic, as it can easily be manipulated and reproduced via digital tools. Nevertheless, the idea of being authentic is implemented in the logic of social media users, as the essence is mostly about making connections and building online identity. However, considering that Instagram is not an element of real life and that content can easily be manipulated, the notion of authentic online self-representation becomes difficult to defend.
This study proposes a new approach of investigating the self-representation on Instagram because it is discussing both artists and scholars’ approaches concerning authenticity and online identity. The idea of how modern artwork changes direction and starts to move from the mass-media platforms to the museum as well as the artists who move from the studio to online spaces. This helps to understand how technology and the language of online culture influence contemporary society and arts.
16
1. FORMS OF AUTHENTICITY IN ART AND THE DIGITAL
ENVIRONMENT
1.1. CONCEPTUAL ART AND THE PLATFORM OF ITS RECEPTION As this study focuses on authenticity and self-representation online through the lens of media artists, it is important to contextualize conceptual art within new media technologies. According to Lippard, the term conceptual art refers to an artwork in 'which the idea is paramount and the material form is secondary' (vii). In some instances, the work may even be dematerialised (Lippard ix). For instance, a piece of art might not even have a tangible form, and instead depends on the artist’s thoughts or on the statement he or she wants to make. As regards the questions of what conceptual art is, what its goals are, and what is the philosophy behind it, every artist creates their own understanding of these elements. In accordance to Lippard what matters the most is the unique idea of the artist (7). Therefore, ‘concept art is not so much an art movement or vein as it is a position or worldview, a focus on activity’ (Friedman in Lippard 10); from this perspective, concept art emphasises the artist’s personal interests and the process of exploring those ideas via art.Consequently, certain political events have encouraged conceptual artists to express their ideas in creative and unconventional ways. The era of conceptual art coincided with the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War, and the women's liberation movement. In this context, conceptual art was thus an element of the mid-1960s counterculture. The artistic movement was accelerated by the power of imagination, as conceptual artists challenged existing cultural norms, allowing freedom of expression to thrive. This kind of art appeared to the spectator as it did not require special skills or talent. However, creating something ‘mentally interesting to the spectator’ was essential (Lewitt). On the basis of that idea, different artistic
17 movements started to emerge, with new art forms focusing on everyday urban life. Examples include Ed Ruscha's deadpan photography books and Reinhardt's writings: ‘I am interested in what is interesting’ (Ruscha in Stringfellow). Such works illustrate how artists began to focus on their personal opinions and to present their own ideas in a manner that might initially seem minimalistic or out of norms but eventually prove to be ‘visually pleasing’ (Lewitt). These artists followed that path rather than adhering to certain previously preconceived artistic norms. For this reason, art shifted from a local phenomenon to a global one, as artists sought to answer larger questions with their work. Conceptual art emerged from a vernacular minimalist movement, and as Ad Reinhardt put it in his works, less is
more. However, the conceptual artist tends to say more with less: Ideas alone can be works of art; they are a chain of development that may eventually find some form. All ideas need not be made physical... The words of one artist to another may induce an idea chain, if they share the same concept. (Lewitt in Lippard 13) In this context, artists tend to express more by exploiting less in order to grasp the attention of spectators. Forms, topics, and ideas underwent critical changes, and techniques for producing works of art did the same. For artists seeking to restructure the art process and perceptions of art, information and systems played a key role, replacing traditional compositions, colours and technique. A fascination with numbers, pseudo-scientific data, and information led to completely different— and sometimes absurd or simple—subjects (Shanken 436). However, as Lewitt has suggested, these new forms and ideas gave rise to various alternative art forms and inspired other artists.
18 Furthermore, technology played a vital role in the emergence of new forms of representation and the dematerialisation of the art object. As discussed earlier, in the late twentieth century, a multitude of cultural transformations took place, and these were also reflected in the arts via technology. The artist Les Levine investigated the interaction and feedback between spectators and the environment in the late 1960s, using early computer technologies to achieve that goal. Levine presented his project ‘Systems Burn-Off X Residual Software’ (1969) in the Software exhibition. Levine's work consisted of thousand copies of 31 images that he took of a highly publicised Earth Works event, with the pictures randomly strewn about on the floor covered with jello. This artistic statement presented the relationship between software and art. It also acknowledged the fact that mass-media was changing the audience experience into a simulated representation, as opposed to simply providing information about facts and objects (Shanken 434). Levine's work sparked a debate on whether the media and technology were destroying how art is experienced, as it became more focused on the software and technology that were used, rather than the piece of art itself.
These 'conceptual transformations' influenced computer based media art and the use of digital networks in contemporary art (Lillemose 128). Given today's dematerialisation of the art object and wide use of social networking websites, this invited artists to participate in the online discourse and present their ideas to a wide audience of social media users. One of the topics of today's media artists on social media questions authenticity of online identity and self-representation techniques. According to Koosel: The identity narrative, when mediated through social networks, often takes the shape of a ‘status update’ or a ‘post’ which when collected together over time, can represent many fragmented, short stories about the self. (60)
19 These digital images create an overall visual representation of the modern society while on the same time a single personal documentation of one individual's life. Lillemose claims that online interactions have a major impact on our lives and informs an individual on a private and a 'wider social' basis (130). Given this idea, media artists choose to be active online and participate in this network while communicating their ideas, developing concepts of interest and constructing public opinions. By doing so, it becomes easier to reach a wide audience and present their ideas on social media platforms as well as to receive quick feedback from users. 1.1.1. The role of the spectator in the creative act
There are two parties involved in artistic creation: the artist and the spectator. German philosopher Wolfgang Iser claims about the relationship between an author and the recipient: 'The represented world is not a world, but the reader imagines as if it were one, clearly the reader's reaction must be guided by that representation' (16). Applying this to the field of art, a spectator expects as well to be guided by the artist as they are the one telling the story. Considering that millions of artists create art, while only a few are widely discussed, the question arises if the spectator determines the value of a piece of art. Duchamp, was an avant-garde artist who had a considerable impact on art history and was one of the first to recognise concept-driven artwork (Dadart). Duchamp declared that the spectator is a key component of creative art, as ‘his declarations give a social value to the piece’ (Duchamp). More specifically, the conceptual artist must intrigue and appeal to spectators, as they are the ones who consume the artwork.
In the creative act, the artist goes from intention to realisation through a chain of totally subjective reactions. His struggle toward the realisation is a series of efforts, pains, satisfaction, refusals, decisions,
20 which also cannot and must not be fully self-conscious, at least on the aesthetic plane. (Duchamp)
Duchamp defined the art coefficient as the link between an artist’s conscious and unconscious goals (Duchamp). As a result of this idea, the spectator is the one who has to decide whether a work of art is engaging and those goals of an artist are dependent on the reactions of the recipient. The spectator’s role becomes then to determine the potential aesthetic value of an artwork by experiencing it. Once a piece of art is completed, the artist ‘has no control over the way viewer will perceive the work’ (Lewitt). It is thus of personal matter, depending on subjective and individual characteristics, to determine how a piece of art is understood. Additionally, due to the reshaping of the art object, new forms of presenting and experiencing art also emerged. For instance, Lambert-Beatty discusses an example of an art historian Michael Blum who recreated the house of a Turkish-Jewish historical figure Safiye Behar in 2005. The installation contained a documentation of Behar's life. By furnishing the apartment with her letters, photographs, books ‘he relayed Behar's life story with both bilingual didactics and a certain flair of stagecraft’ (Lambert-Beatty 52). This means that the art piece becomes is a fiction. It is directly inspired by a true story and constructed according to the actual historical events. This makes the spectator's experience of the art more realistic, as the artwork encourages them to relate from a personal perspective.
As the creative act becomes dematerialised, as aforementioned, and can be presented in various ways (e.g., live performance, digital formats, and installations), in order to engage with the spectator, the artwork needs to transmit an authentic and genuine feeling. In terms of digital and media art spectator's contribution is essential as the viewer is the element connecting a work of art and the external world. This means that the perceiver of the artwork adds ‘contribution to the
21 creative act’ (Duchamp). Taken this on board, the forms of representation guide the spectator to make a decision about the art he or she is experiencing. For instance, Fluxus artistic movement criticised the notions of 'originality and authenticity' and contributed to the dematerialisation of art through 'mass-producing works of art in the style of boxes and games and performance' (Meecham and Sheldon 276). According to Meecham and Sheldon this created a completely different and authentic experience for the spectator as the Fluxus 'unsettled the auratic art object and bypassed the museum' (228). With regards to current media art, the outcome is similar for the spectator when the art being presented ‘outside’ the museum (for example: digital online spaces) creating a less ‘institutional’ experience. However, when digital technology is part of the creative act, the role of the spectator changes. According to the artist Les Levine, the sense of intimacy between a piece of art and the spectator shifted towards a less-controlled encounter: The experience of seeing something first hand is no longer of value in a software controlled society, as anything seen through the media carries just as much energy as first-hand experience. In the same way, most of the art that is produced today ends up as information about art. (Levine in Shanken 434)
With regards to Levine's idea, a performance, for instance, is more authentically experienced at the time of the action rather than afterwards. To emphasize the impact of the new media technology on our everyday lives Levine's argument illustrates that the production and representation of art within the same medium might create a new form of spectator’s experience (e.g. artists using Instagram to critique Instagram culture). In this way, the spectator is reached by everyday digital means (e.g. smartphones) and provided with reproduced information about the art.
22 Even though this might create a seemingly non-authentic copy of the original piece of art that cannot be experienced in the same way, the spectator, on the other hand, does not value 'first-hand' experience as much as before the digital era. 1.1.2. Documenting digital and media art
With the dematerialisation of the art object and moving 'outside' the museum, digital technologies have become an important tool for representation, making it an essential tool to the documentation of the creative act. Moreover, authenticity of experience is also a critical aspect of the creative act, as it helps to determine how content is received by the audience, ‘viewers thinking about what they see rather than simply weighing the formal or emotive impact’ (Lippard and Chandler 3). As Dutton argues, an authentic experience of the art piece may be impossible to achieve (266). However, considering that Fluxus movement, for instance, recalibrates the audience’s perception and performance, a work of art could only be experienced by participating. As a spectator, this creates new modern ways of authentic exploration of art (Meecham and Sheldon 228). In consequence, conceptual artwork challenges spectators, not only to acknowledge the aesthetics of what is presented to them, but also embeds them within a particular discourse. Means of experiencing artwork have changed, and with conceptual art in particular, the spectator plays a more substantial role in the creative act.
Conceptual art shatters the norms that existed in the art world, and also breaks with traditional representational techniques such as an oil painting, painted on a canvas and hung in the museum. The technical features have also generated a faster response from the audience. For instance, even when an art piece is in a gallery, people often share their experience online by posting pictures, adding a location and a caption below. Approaches to documenting and preserving conceptual art forms have evolved, because of the technical features' and because of formats’ ‘multi-part
23 nature, variability, and rapid obsolescence’ (Rinehart 181). Moreover, many galleries and artists create their own online spaces where they share information about their exhibits, allowing other users to comment or 'like' the content. Even if the notion of reproducing art into digital information about art was Levin’s main argument, in many cases, new means of artistic representation were created with the intention to challenge the existing norms of traditional art. For instance, you can see the art as a video or online image series. However, these digital techniques can be considered less authentic, as the spectator experience might be controlled by a secondary source. This means that the spectator experiences art via the screen, that is in between the live act and the viewing audience. For many artists working at the intersection of conceptual art and art-and-technology, the particular visual manifestation of the artwork as an object was secondary to the expression of an idea that becomes reality by stimulating it. (Shanken 434)
Given this, the idea and meaning of the artwork gains more importance than how it is presented to the public. Nevertheless, when conceptual artists use digital media for documenting their original art the result is more of a personal communication with the spectator. Due to the fact that media art is much more performative and ‘behaviour-centric’, it has a variety of forms that can be performed multiple times using different techniques for experiencing art (e.g., music) (Rinehart 181). Even when performed via different ‘instruments’, a performance usually has the same result. The music of Bach, for instance, could be performed by a new piano or an old one, and it could even be played on a CD player. A similar concept applies to the documentation of digital art: A conceptual artist’s performance could be recorded or presented live on a social network or a website.
24 The previously mentioned 1960s Software exhibition contained another piece by Haacke called ‘News’ (1969). That work used several teletype machines to document and present the art. It was designed to calculate, document, and print statistical data on the exhibition’s visitors, and the teletype machines printed that information on paper rolls in real-time. The presentation, however, relied on a different format. A projector was used to display the constantly changing data on a large screen, allowing a large number of people to view it (Haacke in Shanken 435). In this particular example, spectators became a part of the artwork. In addition, a digital media art piece might be produced by one software program on a particular type of computer and then presented on different computer via different programs. Moreover, the art might be interpreted in divergent manners by spectators, depending on the representational forms and their configurations. This variability should not be considered as an element that reduces the value of a piece of art, but as an inherent property of the medium and the works belonging to it. As Rinehart has stated, ‘digital and related media art will almost certainly use different hardware for presentation a hundred years from now, but can still be considered authentic’ (182). According to Rinehart, digital media can be authentic, and higher-level techniques of documenting and presenting art will most likely evolve in the future.
This history of media art documentation is linked to artists’ practice of using mobile photography and social media in their performances nowadays. Ulman, Kassier, and Wollen have all addressed questions concerning contemporary society in general, and digital culture stereotypes in particular, and their ideas connect art and spectators on different levels. Firstly, Instagram’s medium of presentation is the spectator’s private space, which is not a typical artistic venue. Secondly, the spectator becomes the object of investigation and determines the outcome of the performance. Lastly, without the engagement of the spectator, such a project could
25 not be as fruitful, considering the user is the one who chooses to follow the account of the artist and engage in the conversation posed. This creates a unique and authentic relationship between the artist and the spectator, one that is mediated via digital media.
26 1.2. AUTHENTICITY AS IDENTITY 1.2.1. Authenticity in art As a first step, authenticity being a broad and variable term, it is beneficial to this study to discuss how it navigates in the arts discourse. Authenticity within arts context is usually associated as an original artwork versus a copy of it. 'One of the most famous episodes of misidentification and fraudulence in the last century involves the van Meegeren Vermeer forgeries', according to Dutton (261). After his paintings were not well-received by experts in the twentieth century, van Meegeren decided to forge paintings by famous Dutch artists. As reported by Dutton, he replicated those paintings so accurately that critics regarded them as genuine and exquisite. However, after a while, van Meegeren was confronted, and it became clear that the paintings supposedly worth millions of dollars were, in fact, fakes. In line with Dutton’s argument, this historical event 'calls into question both the validity of official expertise and the existence of ascertainable aesthetic values' (261). Most definitions of authenticity refer to representations that are real, genuine, and unedited. Gimblett speaks about authenticity as 'sincere, innocent, original, genuine' while Bendix explains that authentic is 'not mechanically reproduced' (Gimblett and Bendix in Fine 155). Moreover, and according to Fine, ‘authenticity refers to the recognition of difference' (155). The example of van Meegeren proves that even masterpieces of famous artists can be fabricated, leaving even the experts unable to spot the difference between identical authentic and inauthentic paintings. In Berger's and Benjamin's opinions, reproductions create a sense of uniformity therefore the unique aspect of artwork vanishes in the process of copying.
Given the idea that even the masterpieces can be copied, a reproduction of an original cannot have the same identity; while it may look the same, the unique elements of its' history are not present. Therefore, the authenticity and identity of
27 an artwork are often discussed in the arts discourse. According to Lowenthal the identity even has a stronger impact on the artwork: 'object identity triumphs over material authenticity' (82). For instance, as Newman and Bloom argue, the original painting by Picasso means that the artist touched the canvas, however the forgery might look completely the same but does not have this quality and therefore does not contain this 'special essence' (559). Identity of the artwork goes further than the just the originality aspect of it, so the Picasso example demonstrates that even if the paintings look completely the same the value might be different due to who created and was in possession of the artwork. Furthermore, Bendix believes that the moral authority of the artist and the fact that objects are handmade, thus unique, greatly contributes to the authentic value of the artwork (15). In this context, the paintings of Picasso for example, are greatly valued because his works have been admired for a long-time period and the artist is well established in the history of arts. This relates to Roth B. Phillips idea that authenticity depends on the qualities associated with the object and the 'collective memory' of the artwork (19). This means that, all the external information about the art piece such as the artist, the owner, the time and place contribute to the overall collective memory of the artwork. This concept is essential to the understanding of the authenticity as identity which cannot be duplicated.
Given this, the identity of an art object is what fulfills its' authentic value. The original artwork has an effect associated with its distinct location in time and space. For instance, as Sartwell argues the Mona Lisa is authentic because it was painted with particular paints on a particular panel at the time when Leonardo Da Vinci was alive; on the other hand, Mona Lisa loses some part of its' authentic value when it has been cut down and placed in a museum (364). Therefore, the act of replacing means the loss of the authenticity elements, together with all the sentiment and collective memories that are connected to the piece. Additionally, this notion
28 extracts the essence of the artwork and creates a sense of uniformity eliminating the identity, what means authenticity as well. An original piece of art’s location—the here and now—underlies its authentic value (Benjamin 21). In addition, contemporary technology and innovation have made it increasingly simple to access all forms of art. All that is needed is to press a button on one’s television, computer, phone, or other digital device, and this ease of access reflects. As Lillemose points out the computer became not only a tool for contemporary artists but an artistic medium in itself (117). Given this, it is common for media artists and conceptual artists to use digital photography and social media platforms, such as Instagram, to document their performances seek to create a unique representation of the creative act while exploring the idea of authentic online user experiences. To be more specific, to get closer to a piece of art, spectators want to witness a live performance, see a piece in its natural state, or view it prior to reproduction.
In a sense, in today’s world, the authentic value of an art piece consists of one’s authentic experience of that work. In the case of an art performance, the audience becomes a part of the creative act, as without spectators, the work would lose its meaning and value. As Dutton has noted, one of the main elements of authenticity concerns the context in which a creative object exists and the audience’s role in that setting (269). This notion stresses the fact that the role of the spectator in a creative act is sometimes underestimated; however, the authenticity of an art piece can also depend on the audience’s perspective. The authentic piece of art is a creative work whereas the copy is not. According to Gimblett authenticity might be linked to 'unmediated' encounter when the cognitive understanding is absent and the experience is sincere, original and unaffected what is distinct from a strategic self-presentation (239). Therefore, there are several time periods that must be taken into consideration when it comes to pieces of art: the time of creation, the time of presentation, and the time of reproduction. Further, the location of a piece of art can
29 be considered from various perspectives: the place of creation, the place of presentation, and the place of reproduction. Thus, in a sense, the most authentic experience is that associated with the original time and place of creation. According to Newman and Bloom the audience also might see and understand the artwork differently due to external information and the identity, for instance, whether it was created in the 19th century or the 21st. For example, a vacuum cleaner presented by Jeff Koons is valued millions of dollars because of it's 'contact with the artist' whereas an identical object is worth less (Newman and Bloom 559).
In contrast, some contemporary artists tell fictitious stories that challenge the idea of authenticity. As Lambert-Beatty points out the concept of parafiction that consists of a mixture of real stories or personages and imaginary ones such an approach works when it conforms to existing roles or stereotypes, with the alignment making the story believable (54). According to her, fiction has recently emerged in contemporary art and is sometimes performed in a humorous way - as a parody (Lambert-Beatty 56). The idea of parafiction is linked to those conceptual artists who investigate questions of identity and authenticity on social media. Emma Braso describes this notion as artists being 'under a parafictional identity' and unlike using pseudonyms these parafictional characters have their own stories that might or might not correspond to their real-life identities (30). Artists like Ulman and Kassier are performing the role of a typical social media persona in a way that fits into existing narratives of how people may act on Instagram or in real life. In short, they fit the stereotypes of a 'cute girl' or ‘businessman’ but these stories are opposite from their real-life persona. By creating these fictitious characters that are believable because of existing stories on real life, and by exaggerating their roles, these artists create a parody of users’ self-representation on Instagram. These kinds of projects challenge the idea of online authenticity. As Lambert-Beatty has mentioned, the notion of parafiction is appropriate to this historical era, as a
30 ‘uniquely troubling’ act (58). This may be due to the blurred lines between fiction and reality. Social media has an especially strong influence on these boundaries. This also corresponds to Baudrillard's ideas of simulacra and he states that 'simulating is not pretending' (3). According to his ideas in Simulacra and Simulation simulation challenges the difference between real and imaginary. That is the reason why conceptual artists investigate how the staged user content may or may not differ that much from the real-life stories and makes the fiction believable by presenting something as 'imaginary in order to justify that the rest is real' (Baudrillard 12). As these lines between online and offline lives become blurry, some users may begin to understand themselves and define their personalities via their social media identity—a problematic development.
1.2.2. Photography as a visual form of communication
According to Plato, a painting mimics reality by using similar colours and objects. In addition to its visual aspect, a painting can be interpreted in different ways, depending on the spectator’s relationship to art and his or her level of knowledge and interest (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy). In the case of photography, the spectator gets a clearer representation of the subject. Nevertheless, an image could be manipulated by technological processes and could for this reason be interpreted differently. In relation to the concept of authenticity, photography can be discussed in several ways. To this study it is relevant to look at photography as means of documenting and representing a subject, and as a reproduction comprising on element of an art piece. Authenticity in photography is a complex notion, given the fact that photography is a highly reproducible process and images are available, ubiquitous and 'they surround us in the same way as a language surrounds us' (Berger 32). Therefore, photography has had a tremendous impact on traditional art forms, such
31 as oil painting and sculpture, since it can reproduce a work of art and make it easily available to anyone. With the invention of the camera everything changed, we see things that are not there in front of us—appearances travel across the world. It changed not only what we see but how we see it. It even changed the paintings painted long before it was invented. (Berger 19)
The historian of photography Naomi Rosenblum has suggested that photographs have an impact on how society perceives art: 'Photographs that reproduce art objects also have had a profound effect on the democratisation of public taste and knowledge, changing public perceptions of visual culture' (209). Thus, even if the medium of photography may truthfully present reality, it also interferes with the public’s perception of art.
In addition to that, Sadowski argues that 'the images are also physically related to the objects they represent' because of the technical properties of photography (357). While other visual art forms and previous modes of representation could be interpreted and analysed on various levels, photography clearly presents its subject by imprinting information ‘by light and chemical (or electronic) process', creating a strikingly accurate and truthful representation of the object (Sadowski). This precise representation of reality leaves thus less space for interpretation. Additionally, the information and data produced by a camera is determined by objects that are external to that device. Gunning points out that 'the mediation of lens, film stock, exposure rate, type of shutter, processes of developing, and of printing’ should be eliminated for a photograph to be considered an ‘imprint of reality’ (40). This means that the multiple technical processes when taking a photograph have an impact on the end result and alters the reality of the object
32 represented on the image. For this reason, it is difficult to argue that a photograph is a direct representation of its subject. According to Rosenblum since the mid-1970s, an element of 'commercialisation' has been present within the photographic medium, affecting how images are produced and presented (569). With the advent of advertising, photographs have increasingly become of constructed and directed realities visible everywhere from magazines to television screens. Techniques for ‘inventing images’ became more common, as objects or people were directed, sets were staged, and pictures were reshaped via editing and graphical modifications (Rosenblum 569). As images are now highly reproducible, and as fictitious visual stories became more common among contemporary artists, the idea that an image can be interpreted or imitated has changed. From that perspective, photography is an interpretation of reality, rather than a representation of it as both the artist (i.e. photographer) and the spectator are dealing with an interpretation of reality rather than a representation of it. Photography could also be considered as a faster form of communication than, for example, painting. According to Rosenblum, photography represents a medium with less space for interpretation or imitation, as it captures a real object more precisely and quickly than a painting does. Digging deeper into the subject, Rosenblum explored the idea that photography can portray central social themes and goals, because in a way, the term documentary refers to how a photograph captures reality (339). Additionally, the medium of photography can be considered a representation of culture and society, as the photographer captures the objects or people present at a particular moment in a particular place. According to van Dijck, the purpose of photography shifted from documentation of the past towards 'using it as an instrument for interaction and peer bonding' (Mediated Memories in the Digital Age
33 115). This is especially true given the wide use of digital image in everyday communication devices such as smartphones and computers.
It is difficult to define what authenticity means in photography as it is a multidimensional medium. However, an image gives a clear description of its' subject, meaning that it captures precisely a moment or an object at a given time and place. Jose van Dijck discusses that the integration of cameras into everyday devices such as smartphones has shifted the way in which people record their lives while 'reshaping personal cultural memory' as digital photography makes pictures more accessible and 'electronic processes allow for greater manipulability' (Mediated Memories in the Digital Age 99). With the advent of digital photography and computer editing programs the image became a more reproducible piece of content. However, in regards with online communication on social media the digital image becomes a main tool for user interaction and information spread.
1.2.3. Authenticity in new media
Through the images posted online, the content ranges from; photos of users’ breakfasts; to selfies; to photographs of personal possessions, with the overall goal being to portray a certain lifestyle to which one aspires. Interestingly, the chief means of evaluating such content has become the responses and feedback offered by other users through comments or likes. According to Jose van Dijck in some instances, these comments even influence the subsequent content (Mediated
Memories in the Digital Age 56). Pictures feature prominently on Instagram as their
visual attributes allow users to create a closer connection between their online and offline lifes. Miller claims that popularity of platforms such as Instagram have proven that visual communication is more effective than textual and that a conversation online could be entirely visual (207). Given this, digital images shared
34 on social media reflect the lifestyles, conversations, and habits of contemporary society, thus offering a reason for studying online user behaviour, which may reveal cultural trends or issues in the offline world. Due to the advent of the digital image, photography has evolved into a fast and easy form of online interaction. This is especially true on social media platforms and as the artist Richard Vickers has pointed out, new media technologies have introduced multiple novel forms of representation: Images can be easily shared and disseminated via the web, which has superseded the traditional modes of presentation and publication. They can be tagged and commented on and archived for prosperity. Photography has never been so instantaneous or so disposable, one click to capture and another to delete. (Vickers in Shanks and Svabo 7) Considering the ubiquity and transformability of the digital image in online spaces, investigating issues of authenticity in new media visual technologies might seem complex. However, digital photography functions 'as communication and identity formation' on social media (van Dijck, Digital photography: communication, identity,
memory 58). The image shared online represents and communicates the aspects of
users' activities and forms an understanding of persons' offline life. In addition, according to the contemporary scholars Jonas Larsen and Mette Sandbye, ‘digital technology has not only changed the way the images are produced but also the way they are used, circulated, and communicated’ (2). In the above quotation, Larsen and Sandbye are suggesting that the digital image represents the convergence of media forms, new ideas of identity, smartphones, and social media. However, these new digital media forms of communicating the self are mediated by technologies that reproduce the content so that everything fits in the same format and are presented on the same platform. According to Manovich all new media objects 'are numerical
35 representations' and digital photographs become 'programmable' (52). This means that digital content is based on numbers and in the representation, it is converted from numerical data to a visual image. In a sense, it creates similar visual format experience for every user; however, on the same time it grants a unique identity by giving different numerical value to each image.
Although new media technologies have made reproduction easier and more common, digital photography and new forms of representation (e.g., sharing pictures online) have created a novel means of experiencing creative content online. The notion that ‘media affect the way people make sense of the world’ is related to the previously discussed idea that photography influences how society perceives the visual arts (Shanks and Svabo 1). The confluence of the physical and the digital is most influenced by mobile media photography aimed at documenting and engaging in everyday situations. This merges both online and offline experiences and makes the content more believable. Jose van Dijck points out that photography could be considered as a mean of 'sharing experience' (Digital photography: communication,
identity, memory 59). For instance, on platforms such as Instagram, users attach the
location to an image or tag people within it. Doing so acknowledges certain facts of reality that are already visible in the picture. However, the time, place, or people depicted in a photograph tend to add meaning to the image. This creates a different representation and experience of reality that is authentic in its own way, as this process quickly captures and presents everyday life while communicating several facts all at once. Koosel claims that 'the need to validate offline, "real life" information' is a part of modern society's thinking and by doing so it creates important and authentic perception of the shared content even though it might be misleading or a scam (62). This emphasis on the online presence gives meaning and importance and therefore to have an online account is accepted as a norm and a modern social experience.
36 The online presence and the content posted on social media could be manipulated in terms with image and text. Additionally, mobile photography has become an amateur performance process that is documented via social networking channels:
When pictures become a visual language conveyed through the channel of communication medium, the value of individual pictures decreases while the general significance of visual communication increases. (van Dijck, Digital photography: communication, identity,
memory 62)
One of the best examples of visual language through new media channels is the selfie phenomenon. This word has become a common element of contemporary speech, with a place in the Oxford Dictionary since 2013 (Baym and Senft 1588). This new form of twenty-first century self-representation initially entered our everyday lives through new forms of media and mobile technology. The selfie has become a global phenomenon and a form of online human behaviour. Selfies are created, displayed, and tracked through 'non-human elements', such as smartphones and social media platforms (Baym and Senft 1589). Therefore, Instagram platform has become a 'home' for the selfie. With more than 300 million pictures featuring the hashtag 'selfie', this form of online self-representation seems to be trending. The Instagram interface is extremely visual, and content is mostly photography-based, stimulating the idea that users’ life stories—visually illustrating the 'self'—are the foundation of this online experience. The Selfie City project by Manovich and his team is an example of an initiative on the Instagram platform exploring how online culture is connected to users’ locations. While investigating user content on Instagram, they were able to identify gender and cultural differences attributable to geographic location (A Digital Thought Facility). The findings revealed that users’ online behaviour may be connected to their place of origin, gender, and age. Their study demonstrates how the interface of Instagram allows to experience and 'read'
37 different cultures across the world and, to a certain extent, becomes an international visual language. This new and modern form of self-expression on Instagram can be understood as a dialogue consisting of instantaneous witnessing and responding. Users share their selfies or other pictures online, and their followers and friends can then instantly respond by liking and commenting. These features of the online world mimic, or resemble, people’s real-life actions or thoughts (even if there is no physical activity that corresponds to the like button). However, the question of authenticity is complicated by the fact that the pictures shared on social media platforms are most of the time staged beforehand and altered via filters and online editing tools. Koosel claims that social media user could be seen as a performer 'who has easy access to tools for mass communication' and therefore can reach a worldwide audience on social media networks (59). For instance, while the selfie is a seemingly authentic representation of a person, the creator actually plans the shot and performs for the camera, thereby staging the moment. This form of online behaviour and trend toward digital communication have encouraged media artists to investigate these online interactions online using the same platforms.
In summary, the digital image online consists of numbers, photographs, text and represents users’ offline life in a way that evokes reactions, comments and feedback from other users. Therefore, this digital process on Instagram creates a modern socialising experience and a cultural dialogue online.
