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E G 19/09/15 – 17/01/16 O THE FUTURE OF THE DIGITAL UPDATE IDENTITY LATURBO AVEDON “Selfie” was chosen as the English word of the year in 2013, and today 25 million Germans admit to occasionally taking selfies. A 2014 “Time” magazine survey found that Düsseldorf is the selfie capital of Germany, and the city placed 136 in an international comparison, well ahead of Berlin or Hamburg. The digital revolution has influenced and changed photography more than any previous development: “I think, therefore I am” has become “I photograph, I document, therefore I am”. The quest for identity has always been one of the major questions driving humanity, one that has presented itself in myriad social, political and cultural forms of expression. The question that naturally follows, “Who do I want to be, or who should I be?”, is part of the basic repertoire of culture, philosophy, economics, theology and politics, alongside the collective version this question: “Who are we?” – as a social group, as a nation, as Europeans. The exhibition project “Ego Update. The Future of Digital Identity” explores how these questions have changed and developed under the influence of digital media. How do digital and techno- logical advances around the world affect human identity, and what kind of society is likely to result? How are our notions of identity and our desires shaped by digital communication, or even created by it? ALAIN BIEBER CURATOR The exhibition will be accompanied by a publication featuring essays that take an in-depth look at the theme, by authors including Jerry Saltz, Douglas Coupland, Adam Levin, David Rubinstein, Brooke Wendt and Karen Ann Donnachie. 1 2 MARTIN PARR ROBBIE COOPER AUTOPORTRAITS, 1991–2012 & ALTER EGO, 2002–2007 & PHOTOBOOTH, 2015 IMMERSION, 2008 B. 1952 IN EPSOM, B. 1969 IN LONDON, LIVES IN LONDON AND BRISTOL LIVES IN BANGKOK British Magnum photographer Martin In his series Alter Ego, British photog- Parr is regarded as a satirist of rapher and video artist Robbie contemporary life; his photographs Cooper portrays online gamers and are scathingly critical, his inimitable their avatars. Avatars are self-created gaze deflating sub jects both mundane graphic characters that let users and grotesque. His pictures are operate in virtual worlds. The video known for their bright colours, bizarre project Immersion assumes the point motifs and unusual, con densed of view of the computer screen to perspectives. When Parr travels, he show us the reactions on the has his portrait taken in local photo faces of gamers absorbed in play. studios. He deliberately leaves the staging and styling of the image up to ROBBIECOOPER.ORG the respective photo grapher. These humorous self-portraits uncover a global sociology of photographic taste and display the almost infinite possibilities of digital image editing. Visitors to the exhibition will have the opportunity to be photographed in typical Parr style in the new Magnum photobooth. MARTINPARR.COM ROBBIE COOPER: ALTER EGO, 2010 EGO UPDATE 4 A WING MARTIN PARR MARTIN PARR: AUTOPORTRAIT, BENIDORM, SPAIN, 1997. © COLLECTION MARTIN PARR / MAGNUM PHOTOS EGO UPDATE 5 A WING 4 AMALIA ULMAN EXCELLENCES & PERFECTIONS, 2014 B. 1989 IN BUENOS AIRES, LIVES IN LONDON AND GIJÓN ANDREAS SCHMIDT: ANDY WARHOL Amalia Ulman’s artistic practice AUS FAKE FAKE ART, 2012 consists in a mix of painting, sculp- ture, photography and net art. She deals with female stereotypes, power, 3 social anxiety and self-expression in ANDREAS SCHMIDT the age of social media and Photo- FAKE FAKE ART, 2012 & shop. Ulman used her own social HUMAN RESOURCES I / II, 2014 media profiles for an elaborately detailed online performance: for four B. 1967 IN WERNECK BEI months she told a fictional picture SCHWEINFURT, story on Instagram, altering her LIVES IN BERLIN AND LONDON physical appearance and playing with clichés. The piece quickly made her Artist and photographer Andreas an internet celebrity. Her virtual Schmidt presents 19 pictures that performance calls into question the show famous artists such as Roy authenticity of social media and our Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol and addiction to self-optimization. Gerhard Richter standing next to their “Excellences & Perfections is a project works. But appearances are deceiv- about our flesh as object, your body ing: the series Fake Fake Art doesn’t as an investment. How do we market actually show real scenes. Schmidt this flesh? How do we price this has instead altered the original meat? How long will it stay fresh for?” photographs in the series Real Fake Art by photographer Michael Wolf, AMALIAULMAN.EU which shows world-renowned works of art and their forgers. Also on view in the exhibition are two of Schmidt’s artist books: Human Resources I / II contain screenshots of all of his Facebook friends who have chosen to portray themselves on their profile and cover pages holding a camera. ANDREASSCHMIDT.CO.UK EGO UPDATE 6 A WING 5 6 OLIVER SIEBER DIRK WITEK CHARACTER THIEVES, A.K.A. MC FITTI 2005–2007 #SELFIEGOTT, 2015 B. 1966 IN DÜSSELDORF, B. 1976 IN GIFHORN, LIVES IN DÜSSELDORF LIVES IN BERLIN Oliver Sieber has devoted his series MC Fitti could no doubt be described Character Thieves to the Japanese as a “living selfie.” The German trend known as Cosplay (a portman- feel-good rapper with his impressive teau made up of “costume” and beard, mirrored sunglasses and “play”). Cosplayers dress up as their snapback cap constantly takes favorite characters from mangas, photos, regularly incorporating his animes, computer games or movies, distinctive countenance in wacky also imitating their behavior. Sieber collages or images. MC Fitti is photographed them over several presenting his first museum artwork years as their alter egos, but in their here: a bronze bust with selfie arm familiar en vi ron ment – traveling to that first toured Germany’s summer Japan, the USA, Canada and festivals before reaching its final Germany. destination: a temple at the NRW- Forum Düsseldorf. This was also the site of the concert performance OS66.DE recorded in a video on view in the installation. MCFITTI.DE OLIVER SIEBER: HOWL, LEVERKUSEN, 2007, FROM THE SERIES CHARACTER THIEVES EGO UPDATE 7 A WING 8 DAFNA MAIMON HUMAN COMMA BEING, 2015 B. 1982 IN FINLAND, LIVES IN BERLIN GUIDO SEGNI: THE MIDDLEFINGER RESPONSE, 2013 Dafna Maimon’s video and perfor- mance project Human Comma 7 Being is concerned with identity GUIDO SEGNI constructions that challenge defini- THE MIDDLE FINGER tions of the self and the other. It RESPONSE, 2013 acknowledges that our bodies are never complete, but haunted by B. 1988 IN ITALY, memories of living or technological LIVES IN ITALY doppelgängers and missing limbs. For the NRW-Forum Düsseldorf, As a hacker, net and video artist, the Finnish-Israeli artist has created a Guido Segni (alias Clemente Pestelli, narrative two channel video installa- Dedalus, Guy McMusker, Angela tion combining footage from Merelli, Anna Adamolo, Guy The Bore, performances with fictional and Umberto Stanca, Silvie Inb, Fosco documentary video material. The Loiti Celant, Guru Miri Goro, Leslie video work follows a complex story Bleus, Luther Blissett) works at the line that relates the actual practice crossroads of art, pop, net culture, of the artist’s mother, who has data madness and multiple identities. created a Victorian alter ego for In many cultures, a raised middle herself living in the 1860s to the finger is viewed as an insulting practice of her fictional son, an artist gesture. Segni stages it in this series: working with self-representation. he paid the digital proletariat – Both, in turn, are linked to the playful so-called “crowdworkers” who do creative manner in which the matriar- digital grunt work on platforms like chal bonobo primates structure the Amazon Mechanical Turk that way they live together. Throughout computers are not yet able to do – the installation these narrative half a dollar to shoot a self-portrait of strains and voices are connected, themselves in their normal surround- reconfigured, and reconstructed ings making this gesture. through a twisted psychoanalytic reading. GUIDOSEGNI.COM DAFNAMAIMON.COM EGO UPDATE 8 A WING 9 10 DAVID SLATER JONAS UNGER MONKEY SELFIE, 2014 AUTOPORTRAITS, 2010–HEUTE B. 1968 IN COLEFORD, B. 1975 IN CUXHAVEN, LIVES IN CHEPSTOW LIVES IN PARIS The so-called Monkey Selfies created Back when selfies were not yet a pop- by British wildlife photographer David cultural mass phenomenon, photo- Slater made headlines worldwide grapher Jonas Unger invited celebri- when they were first published in ties to photo-shootings where he 2011, unleashing a copyright debate. handed out analog QuickSnap When Wikipedia included one of the cameras and asked them to take their animal self-portraits in its English self-portrait. The entire series is article on primates, Slater objected. on display for the first time in the exhi - But the online encyclopaedia refused bition, from supermodel Karolína to take the image offline, citing Kurková to national football coach US copyright regulations. However, “Jogi” Löw. the legal situation is different in the UK, where photographers can claim JONASUNGER.COM the right to images even if they themselves did not press the shutter button. The outcome of the case is still open. DJSPHOTOGRAPHY.CO.UK JONAS UNGER: JOACHIM JOGI LÖW, FROM THE SERIES AUTOPORTRAITS, 2010–HEUTE COURTESY GALERIE DEROUILLON, PARIS EGO UPDATE 9 A WING 11 12 & 20 KIM ASENDORF & NETRO EVAN ROTH SELFIE TEMPLATE, 2015 & INTERNET CACHE TEH LIFE, 2015 PORTRAIT, 2015 & SELF PORTRAIT, AUGUST 14, 2015 & B. 1981 IN ACHIM, IDEAS WORTH SPREDING, 2013 LIVES IN BERLIN B. 1978 IN OKEMOS, Kim Asendorf studied new media at LIVES IN PARIS the Kunsthochschule Kassel and is today a conceptual artist who works Evan Roth, co-founder of the Graffiti with digital media, engaging with Research Lab and the Free Art & Internet culture and technology.

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