Instagrammed narratives

(Images in this post are from my own instagram, unless otherwise stated)

A couple of days ago I went to see the Performing for the Camera exhibition at Tate Modern, which closes on Sunday - I always go to exhibitions at the last minute, it's a kind of reflex for me,  and  I prefer weekdays, it's the best time not to get caught up in the crowds.
 For the first time I saw on display the work of Amalia Ulman, a young Argentinian born artist who has used Instagram to create an imaginary life, with relationships and  events that never occurred, over a course of two years, gathering thousands of followers in the process.
The concept of creating an imaginary identity is not entirely new, after all Cindy Sherman, who is also included in the exhibition, did precisely that, and extremely well, with photography, starting with analogue 'self portraits' and then converting to digital images for her latest projects.  Her self portraits were never  about herself, but about imaginary characters, stereotypical women sometimes caught in their most unguarded moments, yet all very carefully contrived.
With Ulman, however, it is social media that has been  consciously turned into an artistic medium, to create a  performed narrative that explores self, identity and, of course, gender.  It is a first, no one seems to have done it, at least not on that scale and with the same panache.

There are of course many artists on Instagram and following them can give one  a glimpse of what they are working on or even who they are hanging out with. Photographers and urban artists are all there, with multiple accounts. But Amalia Ulman's project is in a different category . Through Excellences & Perfections she was not  documenting (and glorifying in the process) her own life, she actually devised a performance from start to finish, based on the seemingly simple story of an ingenue that goes through major personality changes after moving to the city, splitting up with her boyfriend, becoming a sugar babe - a mildly autobiographical reference here as it seems that Ulman worked briefly as an escort whilst studying in London - doing drugs, having extensive cosmetic surgery, apologising to her followers for her "bad deeds", getting herself a new boyfriend. After carrying on in that vein for a longish period, taken at face value by her thousands of followers, Ulman finally owned up  it was a performance project,  or a 'tremendous hoax' as some people have called it, those who steadfastly hold on to the notion that social media is or should be about 'truth'. Now her project is being exhibited in major galleries such as the Tate Modern, providing food for thought.
I will not comment further on the significance of Ulman's work. There is a lot in there, it is a very carefully thought out piece of work. There have been many analyses written up by expert art commentators, ranging from Cadence Kinsey writing for the BBC culture site to the  blog post by the Courtauld researchers in which it is the issue of appropriate display of the self as present in Ulman's images that is focused upon.

The idea of performing trough social media is most intriguing and I would like to spare a thought or two on it.
There is no doubt an element of performance in everything that people post about themselves on social media. A lot of the stuff is quite commonplace. Facebook for example is full of sanctimonious inspirational quotes, rehashed from specialised 'quotes' sites. Twitter has given people the ability to be succinct, writing up mini texts which can be full of verve and humour. Both Pinterest and  Instagram are essentially visual, with Pinterest being loaded with pictures of food people are about to eat or want to eat, clothes they buy, hairstyles they want to copy. Instagram combines the quick witted hashtag of Twitter with  immediate image sharing and so far it remains my favourite platform. Now and again there are some beautiful images posted, moments in people's lives which powerfully resonate with the viewers. Some people write their inspirational maxims on post-its and then photograph them and upload them on Instagram - I have seen a few instances of it.  Others might make drawings, photograph them and post them. If anything Instagram is the art gallery immediately accessible to anyone, everywhere, through a smartphone. It enhances the idea that art is after all about communication and immediacy.

Self portrait 2014 with Bronica and expired film

I don't know whether other people are doing what Amalia Ulman has done and if so, how many. It certainly is a fascinating, stimulating  way of utilizing Instagram, not confined to selling one's wares, whatever they may be.
That's why Amalia Ulman's work, besides being rich in content and powerfully critical of privilege and prestige is ultimately very, very empowering.

Performing for the Camera is on display at Tate Modern until June 12, 2016