Filters — in the past couple of years, social media outlets have bombarded their users with the ability to apply layers of colors and graphics atop of their images. Be it to enhance or to emphasize the tones of a picture, the fact that certain filters hold certain atmospheres is undeniable. For example, black and white filters are mostly considered as somber, or even as classics (modern, maybe?) — but who dictated it as so? Each filter, and also our own experience, provide a different "lens" through which we see the picture in. In context of Benjamin's essay, I thought of it in terms of photography — a subject can be taken from different angles, but what about taking a picture of a subject from the same angle, but applying different filters?
Instagram accounts are more or less windows into the user's life. Went to Disney this past Saturday? Post a picture, and now everybody (or at least the ones who follow your account) knows that you've visited Cinderella's castle. While people may use Instagram for purposes of connecting with friends and family, there are also people who seek for followers outside of their immediate circle of acquaintances — in other words, they seek to be "Instagram famous." One of my friends can very well be considered a famous person; with over 20 thousand people following her account, she has 20 thousand pairs of eyes peering into her life. What intrigues me is the fact that while some of our pictures are fairly similar, she collects almost 100 times more likes that I do. A simple picture of a Starbucks cup on her account is able to reap in as many as 1,500 likes, and personal pictures get as many as 200 comments.
In comparing my friend's account and the accounts of other "famous" Instagramers, I noticed something interesting — there is a theme to their images. Among the pictures of Starbucks and selfies, a similar filter is applied to all of their uploads. It suggests the idea that there perhaps exists an optimum look to a picture that people like, and only one that is only produced with the help of filters.
Benjamin states on p.38 that "[e]ven the most perfect reproduction of a work of art is lacking in one element: its presence in time and space, its unique existence at the place where it happens to be." Could Instagram posts be considered works of art, let alone reproductions of it? Do filters constitute as a method of art reproduction? Personally, it seems to me that social media has discovered new leeway for "modern" "art."
I find your connection to Instagram very interesting and thought provoking. Reproduction and duplication in media influences has completed permeated society. I think most social media websites are arguably a place of continuous reproduction. Tumblr and Pinterest both consist of repinning or reblogging other photos or videos, in an effort to convey personal interests via other individual's taste, as well as instructions and demonstrations on recreating and reproducing projects in order to mimic another person's achievement. By being in a sorority, I can confidently say that not much is original - most ideas come from other people's experiences shown on Pinterest. This fascination with reproduction and recreation reiterates the sense of nostalgia we continually discuss in reference to postmodernism. This nostalgia as the yearning for the present, or desire for a continued state of present content with the promise of the future and the quaint nature of the past, continues the practice of reproduction as a way to continue the sense of the present moment. A photo taken 50 years ago can still be continually reblogged on Tumblr and stay "relevant" in the mechanical reproduction of the computer source. Your idea of social media as a potential art form is very interesting… I think you should bring it up in class, I'd love to mull it over as a group!
ReplyDelete-In lieu of post-class reflection