From selfies to self-representation: visual arts, images and identity. Hermeneutic analysis of an artist-in-residence experience in secondary school.

Abstract

The central role of images in contemporary culture poses significant challenges to education. The ubiquity, massive circulation, and consumption of images are integrated into the culture and sociability of young people. They are exposed to the “empire of the selfie”: a constant capture of one’s own image through mobile devices that often ends in yet another self-representation on social media. As is well known, self-representation on social media is often under pressure from social stereotypes or openly yields to the conditions described by Lipovetsky (1993) of narcissism, hedonism, and hyperconsumption. This hyperexposure of the self on social media is changing both modes of subjectivation and modalities of sociability. In this article, we explore the possibilities of the visual arts as alternative modes of experience—modes that enable critical reflection on self-representation. We use as a case study the experience of an artist-in-residence at a secondary school. The research compiles on-site observations of the sessions and participants’ narrative accounts, which are subsequently analysed by establishing categories and subcategories to identify pre-eminent themes. By comparing the accounts of the different roles involved (artist, participants, teachers), we aim to assess the meaning and significance the experience had for them. We found that interaction with the artist provided valuable elements of critical reflection for students regarding the issue of self-representation.