Selfies are not about the self. They are about selfies. Whoever takes a selfie first and foremost subscribes to a ready-made image format and a networked image culture aimed at commonality and, ultimately, commensurability. Since selfies are not about the self in an emphatic sense, why capture the self in the first place? With a view to explicating the selflessness of selfies, I have invented a new portrait – actually a notrait – genre which I would like to proudly present in this video essay. Ladies and gentlemen: the selflessie.
Jörg Scheller (*1979) is professor of art history at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK), regular guest professor at the University of the Arts Poznań, musician, journalist, and certified fitness instructor.
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keywords:
#selfies, #selfie, #visualculture, #digitalculture, #modernism, #negativeaesthetics, #narcissism