Collage self portrait

 

                          Excuse my thumb lol

 For my collage piece I took inspiration from Andy Warhol’s work. Warhol’s uses printmaking to correlate the mass production through media in American society, which holds up in today’s issues of mass production and social influences of mass media. As humans we have always been drawn to a sense of fitting into our social environment and it’s no different today. With social media we are more surrounded by perfected images for public face.  Advertisements for just about anything, are not just selling you their product, but to convince you that their product will make you your idealized self, the idealized public faces you see in media. This tool of capitalism relies on you being insecure, and wanting to reach the unattainable and unrealistic images of the media. But being conscious of this is only half the battle. In my self portrait I address how even knowing that I’m playing a part of what I think I should look like and want to be perceived on social media and in public. I cut up an old paycheck to show the financially profitable side of how images are used to sell an ideal and used a linoleum print to show both mass production and how often advertisers (especially in fashion) promise authenticity and individuality. When in reality these products supposedly selling individuality, are in fact mass produced.

My inspiration:

Quotes:

“It is a testament to her belief that, like street theater or religious rituals, art can nudge viewers towards congregation.” (Wangechi Mutu). 

“The spectacle reduces reality to an endless supply of commodifiable fragments, while encouraging us to focus on appearances. For Debord, this constituted an unacceptable “degradation” of our lives.” (The society of the spectacle) 

“In addition the notoriety of this image demonstrated that appearances are ambiguous and easily appropriated, that they can easily be converted from challenges to the status quo into techniques that sustain it.” (Finkelstein pg. 188) 

“The connections of personality and identity with material objects also make us into commodities. Celebrities endorse and embody specific products and lifestyles. Behind the familiar faces and endorsed prod- ucts are invitations to self-invent. The Hollywood movie star, sports hero and pop idol are advertisements for various material goods as well as abstract personal qualities.” (Finkelstein pg 206)