Draft:Post-Instagram

Post-Instagram

Overview

The Post-Instagram art movement, which emerged prominently in the early 2020s, engages critically with the aesthetics and cultural paradigms fostered by Instagram and similar social media platforms. This movement interrogates the impact of digital culture on contemporary art practices, exploring themes such as digital authenticity, ephemerality, identity construction, surveillance, and memetic culture. The leading figure of the movement, Young Agamben, plays a pivotal role in articulating and exemplifying its core concerns and methodologies. Significantly, the Post-Instagram movement originated during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the conditions of social reclusion playing a key role in its development.

Historical Context

The Post-Instagram movement emerged within a broader trajectory of digital and new media art, critiquing the pervasive influence of social media on visual culture. This movement responded to the homogenization of aesthetic standards and the commodification of personal experiences facilitated by platforms like Instagram. The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent social reclusion were instrumental in the rise of this movement, as artists turned to digital platforms as primary means of communication and expression during periods of lockdown.

Theoretical Framework

The Post-Instagram art movement is informed by theoretical discourses on digital culture, biopolitics, and the philosophy of technology. Drawing on the works of theorists such as Jean Baudrillard, Gilles Deleuze, Giorgio Agamben, Michel Foucault, Jacques Lacan, Plato, Walter Benjamin, and Sigmund Freud, the movement interrogates the simulation of reality, the modulation of desire, and the management of life through digital platforms. Central to this inquiry is the notion of the "hyperreal," where mediated representations supersede and distort actual experiences, creating a simulacrum of reality.

Freud's exploration of the unconscious mind, dreams, and the interpretation of images provides a foundational understanding of how visual culture shapes and reflects psychological states. His theories on dreams as a form of wish fulfillment and his analysis of the symbolism in visual imagery offer insights into the ways digital media construct and convey meaning. Lacan's concepts of the mirror stage and the Real, as well as Foucault's analyses of power and surveillance, further enrich the movement's critical framework.

Key Themes

Post-Instagram art explores several key themes:

• Digital Authenticity and Hyperreality: Investigating the construction and mediation of authenticity in online environments, questioning the veracity of digital personas and the hyperreal nature of social media representations.
• Ephemerality and Permanence: Addressing the transient nature of digital content and its implications for memory, identity, and cultural production.
• Aesthetic Critique: Critically examining the aesthetic norms promulgated by social media, challenging the pursuit of perfection and the commodification of the self.
• Identity and Representation: Exploring how digital platforms shape and constrain the performance and perception of identity, with attention to issues of agency, visibility, and self-presentation.
• Surveillance and Privacy: Engaging with the ethical and political dimensions of data collection, surveillance, and the commodification of personal information in the digital economy.
• Memetic Culture: Analyzing the role of memes as a contemporary form of folk art, exploring their rapid dissemination and influence on public discourse and visual culture.

Artistic Practices

Artists associated with the Post-Instagram movement utilize a diverse array of media and techniques, including digital manipulation, video installations, performance, and the creation of memes. These practices often involve a participatory dimension, inviting viewers to engage critically with the content and context of the artwork. By disrupting conventional visual narratives and exposing the underlying mechanisms of social media, Post-Instagram artists seek to foster a more reflective and critical engagement with digital culture.

The Impact of COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly influenced the development of the Post-Instagram movement. During periods of lockdown and social distancing, artists increasingly relied on digital platforms for both creation and dissemination of their work. This intensified engagement with digital media highlighted the pervasive influence of social media aesthetics and the complexities of digital interactions. The pandemic conditions provided a fertile ground for the emergence of a movement that critically examines these dynamics.

Historical Parallels

The Post-Instagram movement can be compared to historical moments of technological innovation in art. Albrecht Dürer, a key figure of the Northern Renaissance, revolutionized printmaking through his mastery of xylography (woodcut printing). Dürer's work with this new medium democratized access to art and ideas, paralleling how digital platforms democratize content creation and dissemination in the contemporary era. Dürer’s engagement with a new medium mirrors the ways in which Post-Instagram artists navigate and critique the digital landscape.

Similarly, conceptual artist Marcel Broodthaers challenged traditional art forms by incorporating everyday objects and text, questioning the boundaries of art and the role of the artist. Broodthaers’ approach to conceptual art resonates with the Post-Instagram movement’s use of digital media to question and redefine artistic conventions.

Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theories on images and dreams also offer a valuable perspective. Freud's analysis of dreams as a window into the unconscious and his interpretation of visual symbolism provide a framework for understanding how digital imagery on social media can reflect deeper psychological and cultural currents. His work helps to contextualize the Post-Instagram movement's exploration of the unconscious desires and anxieties expressed through digital culture.

Leading Figures and Notable Artists

Young Agamben

Biography

Young Agamben, born Alexandro Ricci in 1992 in Milan, Italy, is a seminal figure within the Post-Instagram movement. Adopting the pseudonym "Young Agamben" in homage to philosopher Giorgio Agamben, Ricci's work is deeply influenced by Agamben's concepts of biopolitics and the state of exception, resonating with the movement's thematic concerns.

Artistic Contributions

Young Agamben's work rigorously critiques digital aesthetics and the socio-political implications of social media. His early works, such as the series "Filtered Realities," juxtapose heavily filtered Instagram images with raw, unedited photographs, challenging viewers to confront the constructed nature of digital authenticity. His later projects, including the multimedia installation "Data Shadows" (2021), utilize anonymized user data projections to create immersive environments that interrogate issues of surveillance and privacy.

Other Notable Artists

Alice Laurent (@Aliceeeee) - France

Alice Laurent is a digital artist whose work explores the intersections of identity, technology, and digital culture. Her projects often incorporate video, installation, and augmented reality to critique the commodification of personal experiences and the construction of identity in digital spaces.

Hiroshi Tanaka (@HrshT4nka) - Japan

Hiroshi Tanaka is known for social media performances that blur the lines between reality and fiction. His Instagram-based performance series "Truth & Illusion" (2020) critiques the performative nature of online identity and the construction of digital personas.

Naru Yamamoto (@Naru_y_amamoto) - Thailand

Naru Yamamoto is a digital artist whose work spans video, painting, and digital media. His use of software and internet-based tools to create layered digital images critiques the aesthetics of social media and explores the boundaries between digital and physical art forms.

Amir El-Sayed (@Amamam) - Egypt

Amir El-Sayed is an artist known for using video games, software, and digital technology to create art that interrogates the intersections of technology and culture. His works often employ digital manipulation and appropriation, reflecting on the impacts of digital media on contemporary life.

Jonathan Miller (@Jomylx) - Canada

Jonathan Miller is a Canadian multimedia artist whose work explores themes of hyperreality, digital culture, and the performance of identity. Through photography, video, and performance, he critiques the construction of reality in the digital age and the impact of social media aesthetics on self-perception. Miller is openly queer, and his work often addresses issues related to LGBTQ+ identity and representation.

Critical Reception and Institutional Recognition

The reception of the Post-Instagram movement within the art world and academia has been mixed. Proponents laud its timely interrogation of digital culture and its critical approach to contemporary aesthetic practices. Critics, however, occasionally contend that the movement risks replicating the very aesthetics it seeks to critique, thereby complicating its critical stance.

Despite these debates, the Post-Instagram movement has significantly impacted contemporary art, encouraging a deeper engagement with the cultural and political dimensions of digital media. However, it remains largely underground, awaiting broader institutional recognition. While individual artists within the movement have gained acclaim, the movement as a whole has yet to be fully embraced by major art institutions and academic circles. This underground status contributes to its authenticity and critical edge, allowing it to maintain a position of resistance against the mainstream commodification of digital culture.

As digital technologies continue to evolve, the movement remains a vital and dynamic force in articulating the challenges and possibilities of art in the digital era.

Bibliography

• Johnson, Claire. Post-Instagram Aesthetics: Digital Authenticity and the Hyperreal. New York: Columbia University Press, 2023.
• Liu, Wei. The Ephemeral and the Eternal: Social Media Art in the Time of COVID-19. Beijing: Digital Horizons Publishing, 2022.
• van den Berg, Jeroen. From Pixels to Paint: The Evolution of Young Agamben’s Art. Amsterdam: Visual Culture Editions, 2021.
• Dupont, Michael. Surveillance and Art: The Digital Panopticon in Post-Instagram Culture. Bruxelles: Zones Sensibles, 2023.