Images are needed to develop human identity. As soon as a toddler recognizes his own reflection, the separation of self and image is created. The power of images arises from this dependence of man on the image.
The Narcissus myth tells what happened when there was an excessive identification with one's own reflection: Narcissus only refers to himself and in the case of the myth this ends fatally.
EPIPHANY
This work examines the role of images in identity formation under today's media conditions. Historically, art initially produced idealized representations of man since ancient times. Thus, defining ideals of beauty for our western culture, which still have a certain validity today, as is particularly evident in the development of fashion and advertising. Above all, female body images and their commercialization play a role. The work that is being investigated, how in the age of digital media and the Internet, especially for smartphones, they function as advertising media and lead to the normalization of delusions of beauty and self-optimization, especially for women, through the permanent image circulation. Another aspect is the means of social media to give the opportunity to create and publish your own visual worlds.
A desktop becomes the stage for the videographic work, the hard cutting rhythm of the assembled video sequences illustrates the image violence of the digital world. Backed with classical music, the film's dramaturgic curve is created. The resulting silent film character supports the importance of images. Symbols of femininity, medical illustrations and quotes from art lead through the entire film.
It is played with the absurdity of beauty tools. The symbiosis of community, digital communication and parallel loneliness create the paradox of the present. The hypothetically shown connection of idealization to a cult, if not even a form of religion, finds its counterpart in the practical implementation, not without taking a humorous look at it, which inevitably leads the viewer into self-reflection. The principle of digital self-optimization, here using face filters, is transported to the offline area. How does the environment react to an analog avatar? What does it mean to live your perfected self in analogy?
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Installation Views: Mütter & Töchter, the pool, Düsseldorf, Germany, 2021