“We build up our own identity through grids of pixels, square-shaped creatures that both exclude and insert, both delete and generate.”
With her on-going project “V.I.P. (Virtual Identity Project)”, the artist aims to investigate typical processes within the contemporary act of identity construction in cooperation with the virtual space and specifically on social media platforms. Based on theoretical research on the history of externally-imposed identity in relation to class structures and societal expectations, it acts as a critical exploration of the apparent autonomy underlying the post-modern process of self-discovery—or rather self-invention (“Selbst(er)findung”): Nowadays, in the context of a heavily curated, idealized self-presentation on social media and mechanisms connected to the latest rise in short-lived trend cycles, aesthetic niches and rapidly changing fashion movements—a concept referred of as “microtrends”—within these online spaces, the procedure of evaluating one’s own identity has turned from an overtly predetermined commitment into an subconsciously guided practice, inevitably driven by extrinsic influences of the cyberspace.
Meanwhile, contemporary phenomena in relation to psychological conditions such as god complex, attention-seeking and narcissistic tendencies—including the so-called “main character syndrome”—that are oftentimes linked to intense online activity and an excessive usage of social media act as further indicators for the severe consequences of the Internet and its current characteristics on our personal identity and self-concept.
In relation to these recurring themes, the artist has created a variety of original concepts which she uses repeatedly throughout the project: The term “cyborg” as a metaphor for humanity having turned into partially digital beings under the influence of the Internet, “idols” of the digital community as the seemingly flawless people we are inevitably confronted with whenever scrolling through social media (as opposed to the regular, content-consuming “users” who are idolizing and emulating them due to their artificially generated aura of ethereal perfection), “pixels” as the basic element of the virtual space—as a direct analogy to atoms as the particles making up our physical world—and the concept of “digital prey”, symbolizing the act of actively performing and presenting oneself on social media platforms, which is frequently associated with feelings of distress and uneasiness similar to being constantly haunted.
(2025)
(WORKS)
The 5 i’s of digital identity: How To Become An Idolized User (A Cautionary Manifesto)
Cyborg Identity: Prototype 3.0
TO THE CORE
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