New Rules of Public Intimacy

Social media live-stream videos of Instagram influencers are at the heart of this body of work. Through video, sound, photography and poetry the work examines the relationship between sub-cultural borderline scenes on social media and their effect on pop culture. The stronger the influence the deeper it absorbs, thus blurring the lines between the edges and the center. This ongoing movement makes traditional demarcations obsolete while signifying the change of guards. 

 

Limited by community guidelines, self documentation on social media challenges conventional perceptions of language, sexuality, eroticism, beauty, body image, freedom of expression and the current wave of feminism. However, the scene of non-conventional live-stream videos on social media also clarifies that the technological revolution of the information era not only gave limited power to its users but also made them very lonely. The powers driving social media forward are possessed by a handful of tech companies which control big data and utilize user generated content as their fuel. Content creators merely serve as extras while tech leaders keep the old order intact. 

 

This body of work demonstrates how erotic influencers turn followers into a revenue source under the strict censorship rules dictated by internet moguls. Using digital platforms of the 21st Century, sex plays a major role, keeping its status as economic system of power. 

 

Sexily posing in front of their smartphones, while having a real time dialogue with their followers–alongside a constant stream of emojis, abbreviations and slang language–is so groundbreaking that social media models should be regarded as contemporary avant-garde artists. 

 

Referencing art history, philosophy, linguistics, sociology and pop culture, New Rules of Public Intimacy is about the ways in which social media redefines aesthetics while challenging the discourse.