Beyond the Street and Beyond the Selfie

 I'f creating a self-portrait is now so simple and so democratic, the question that begs answering might be: why do we need artists?'

Especially 'Artists' who ask no serious questions . About their mediums and about themselves. 

The Selfie is a new photographic genre  that is successfully challenging the problematic representational role of  traditional  'documentary' photography  And it is doing it in so many  interesting and incredible ways .  

The internet is truly the 'portrait gallery of the 21st century'.]

 Internet zindabad !

Beyond the selfie: step away from the smartphone – this is what artists are for

Thirty-eight artists go beyond the surface to explore fresh ways of expressing the self in Remix. Post. Connect.

While the invention of the mirror introduced the possibility of the self-portrait, the smartphone is largely responsible for the modern phenomenon of the selfie.

Ubiquitous and available to all, they’re on our social media profiles, tech devices, business cards and coffee cups – with the ultimate selfie arriving via the 3D printer. If creating a self-portrait is now so simple and so democratic, the question that begs answering might be: why do we need artists?

The unique thing about art (as opposed to the selfie) is that the artist’s self-examination is multi-layered; scrutinising beyond the surface. In making a self-portrait, the artist delves deep into their inner psyche to assimilate the dual roles of subject and artist: by creating a critical distance between themselves and their work, the artist aims to reveal a form of truth.

Self-portraits also inform us about ourselves as viewers and the societies we live in. Despite changes in their presentation over time – from the lifelike oil paintings of Rembrandt to Andy Warhol’s mass-produced screen prints; Brett Whiteley’s controversial Archibald entry Self-portrait in the Studio to Tracey Moffat’s Something More – the self-portrait remains an important signifier of social context and individual identity.

Samantha Littley has curated the fourth incarnation of the biennial National Artists’ self-portrait prize at the University of Queensland Art Museum, titled Remix. Post. Connect. Littley, who regards the internet as the “portrait gallery of the 21st century” has here homed in on the self-portrait in a contemporary context. Of this year’s 38 selected artists, many might not generally be considered as candidates for a portrait display, responding to open-ended requirements on medium and loose criteria for entry that suggested only that artists “reflect something about themselves”.

Anastasia Klose: detail from Self-Portrait as Marina Abramovic with Mugs. Photograph: UQ Art Museum

Artists such as Anatasia Klose and TextaQueen have employed a traditional gaze to connect the viewer with their work, while Alex Seton’s Soloist sculpture is a hoodied youth cast in bronze, symbolic of rebellion. Intriguingly many female artists including Petrina Hicks, Paula do Prado, Eugenia Raskopoulos, Natasha Bieniek, Katherine Griffiths, Min Wong and Jacqui Stockdale have adopted masks or hidden themselves from the viewer. Through these apparent acts of self-consciousness, the women separate their physical self from the audience and examine their role as artists and/or outsiders. Bieniek and Stockdale also consider a future for the online artist by literally representing themselves inside mobile devices.

Rather than donning new hats as portrait artists, most have adapted their existing practice to explore fresh ways of expressing the self. Victoria Reichelt’s 1981 links conceptually with her realist painting practice that considers the consequence of new technologies. Here she reimagines herself as young artist prodigy on a faded 1980s set that doubles as a painted version of an Instagram photo.

Meanwhile that master of monsters, Tom O’Hern, appropriately recasts himself as menacing internet troll. Archie Moore’s taxidermied Black Dog is a convincing connection to his past and symbolises both a racist childhood taunt and an alias for depression.

Perhaps the most surprising element for any audience is the number of works in this exhibition that exploit contemporary media. James Dodd represents himself as a “remixed” tall bicycle – a metaphor that extends outside the physical gallery to a blog of his cycling adventures described as his “performance lifestyle”.

Nell: Summer.

Chris Bennie, Nell, Darren Sylvester, Fiona Foley, David Rosetzky and more entered digital videos of their performances. Meditating on the fine line between life and death, Nell, a Sydney-based artist and winner of the prize for her work Summer, spends several minutes in a darkly humorous video performance beating the living daylights out of an oversized fly with a cricket bat.

Fiona Foley: Vexed. Photograph: UQ Art Museum

Although the common selfie will no doubt continue to provide mass entertainment for all, the 2013 National Artists’ self-portrait prize amply demonstrates that artists continue to adapt their practices and means of expression to explore life’s more complex questions in a wealth of contemporary ways.

• Remix. Post. Connect. is at University of Queensland Art Museum, St Lucia, Brisbane, until 16 February 2014

http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2013/oct/22/beyond-the-selfie-step-away-from-the-smartphone-this-is-what-artists-are-for