Viral Imagery: Process
SART 3146: Assessment 1
My experience throughout this process became defined more through my process, that resulted in my engagement with certain themes that had inspired me from within this course.
To begin process, I was aiming to put my image in a public space, and since I live right next to a high school, I wanted to use that and this demographic and hopefully create something that would evoke a response out of them. I decided to utilise Instagram as my main platform, given that this was a photography based assignment. Even though my picture was in a public space, the prompt to use Instagram was what I hoped my ‘audience’ would engage with, taking it from the physical to the digital.
I had taken a simple photo just with the use of my iPhone to create my image. I was inspired by the virality of meme culture, and wanted to create my own version of a meme per say, using an on trend slogan of “Let’s get this bread”. I took the original photo, edited it to enhance my foreground, create a more defined colour palette and add text - all through the use of one app, PicsArt, of which I personally use myself when curating my personal Instagram Posts. I then had this printed out in A2 format and taped it to the footpath directly in front of my house. I also printed it out in A1 format but hesitated about putting something that large on the footpath which I would later regret.
In my third photo it illustrates the interaction I had had with my Instagram. I had created a new Instagram account using this meme, which was naturally a struggle as many username variations of this slogan were already off the market. I also included reference to a hashtag, as if people were to engage with this picture as well I would be able to track the hashtag as well as through my account. The first day I put it out was the first day I personally spectated interaction with the poster. Many people within my demographic did peak interest by the image, and I witnessed one kid attempt to sneakily take a picture of it while pretending to be unbothered. What resulted was alot of physical engagement, but not as much digital engagement. I had one girl of whom I had no connections with interact with this account, liking a few photos. Due to the name I was also able to deduct that she utilised both her public personal Instagram, as well as her private personal Instagram, sometimes referred to as a ‘spam’ account.
To further encourage the circulation of this account and image, I decided to bring it back to what I could do with my platform and how I could engage with the viral image. Inspired by the W1 Salon video, as well as our classroom discussion from W2, this idea of authenticity really remained with me. I wanted to see the effect of what reducing my online identity to just this viral image (connected to this account and the hashtag) would do, and whether or not that would cause people to change or interact differently. I archived all of my posts (as to not erase my memories) and removed any other highlights, bios, websites and names except for my username, so that my entire identity had become this one posted viral image. I did post it pixelated, as I wanted to create a factor of intrigue, as I figured that an out of personality type of post might result in people getting curious by information that they didn’t necessarily have.
From this, I made a few interesting observations. Firstly, was that I had received a quarter less likes on this photo than I would generally receive on my general posts. Secondly, people that reached out to me about my account did happen to be some of my closer friends, some showing concern with the idea that I was having a personal crisis, one asking if this was a rebirth, another indicating that her relative also had a similar experience in that the same thing occurred, but having been hacked by a porn bot. Thirdly, was that from here I did gain interaction with my original @letsget_this_bread Instagram account, this time from a fellow art student, who I think generally tends to understand the purpose of using a platform for art.
In this kind of arena, especially targeting this ‘meme’ culture, there tends to be a pressure create something that can be considered successful, and success on a digital platform requires interaction. I wanted this to be a success, and I ended up attempting to give this account every opportunity to be engaged with and create some sort of success through engagement. By doing this, I also explored the themes of erasure/authenticity, as I temporarily reduced my online presence to be around this ‘meme’ and in turn raised questions within my online network on whether or not it was actually me (whether it be this ‘true’ self undergoing rebirth, or it was some hacker).
In reflection, I think my project evolved to become less about my original picture, and more about my internet footprint. My project to me became more about the process, and it ended up with my having many different things to observe as opposed to just one end result. I don’t think I would continue with this work, however, the responses I received during my temporary online disappearance peaked my interest, as well as the concept of authenticity on a platform like Instagram. At least especially the theme of authenticity, I hope to bring this to any future works I might create, and hope to create something just as engaging, but with a clearer final product.
