The digital camera is a technological revolution that, in addition to fomenting the secularisation, democratisation and trivialisation of photography, has led to a radical shift in how we express ourselves, share our life and communicate with others. Platforms such as Instagram, Flickr, Photobucket, Tumblr and Picasa have changed for good the way we write our biographies and have heralded the death of the traditional family photo album. The recent rise of the sefie, as well as revealing the level of narcissism in our society, has engendered a new generation of photography that straddles the self-portrait and “conversational” photography; today, images are photographic messages or visual stories.
The (SELFI) exhibition by Spanish-Mexican artist Darya von Berner, produced for the old cold storage room at the former Madrid Municipal slaughterhouse, is a perspective on the perception, attention, ecology and the selfie culture.
There are two key gures in this art project: the Abierto x Obras gallery and its active visitors. Thanks to the organic and creative lighting, the visitors can enjoy the site in its totality for the first time. The architectural space itself has been doubled, implying a selfie of itself, an imaginary and magnificent self-portrait. Only by paying close attention to the work is a new image of themselves revealed to its visitors through observing themselves and by being observed by others.
(SELFI) will be on show at Matadero Madrid through July 31, 2016.
all images and video courtesy of Matadero Madrid