From the Star Tribune on November 4th, 2017 by Alicia Eler:
Editor’s note: The following is excerpted from Star Tribune art critic Alicia Eler’s new book, “The Selfie Generation.”
What exactly are selfies, and why are they everywhere? Whether you happen upon them on Instagram or Snapchat, or literally run into people taking cellphone photos of themselves on the street, the selfie is a pervasive yet elusive aspect of how people visually communicate today.
More than just a picture, selfies provide a lens through which other people view you, and a peek into how you see yourself. And like all cultural phenomena, the selfie is ripe for critique by artists.
Artists of the selfie generation use social media to build their persona or brand, while also using themselves in their work. In this IRL-URL fluid space, they crisscross from the digital to the physical, exploring and playing with the overlap between the two.
Artists of the selfie generation also engage with intersectional feminism, a term originally coined by black feminists to point out the unique intersection of oppression that they experience both as women and people of color.
One such artist is Brooklyn-based RAFiA Santana, 26, who uses selfies both to create an archive of herself and to make sure she is seen the way she wants. She knows that someone who takes her photo will come to it with their own visual baggage of historical images of black people.
