Attention
2019. Inkjet prints on glass and paper.

This series intervenes in the attention economy of advertising by social media influencers. Particularly looking at the language of the photographic medium on Instagram, Attention appropriated photos by influencers who promoted controversial products without disclosing them as paid advertisements. Cirio’s compositions, which comprise prints on glass, make use of the original photographs and enlarged body parts, expressions, poses, and products. The work deconstructs how Instagram influencers deploy their own particular language of advertising, and therefore interrogates the arbitrary visuals that determine the value and utility of our attention in becoming commodified. The photos are analyzed by zooming into the visual details to reveal highly constructed photography. The imagery of the narcissistic, sexualized, and idealized self is a performative language of the attention economy that became canonized, both to convey perfection and spontaneity. The image is meant to be familiar, effortless, natural in its fabrication; advertisements seamlessly appear to be authentic life. This artwork aims to break the construction and formality of this photographic language; by decoding the images, their mechanism is highlighted. As a form of public action, printed compositions are posted on walls to return the subtle online advertising to its detectable form. In addition, a website for the project allows the public to collect and report deceptive advertisements by online influencers.

Video playlist


Selected shows and presentations history
Monitoring Control, solo show at Fondazione Modena Arti Visive, 2021, Modena - Italy
Information Critique, exhibition at Museum PAN Palazzo delle Arti Napoli, 2020, Naples - Italy
Images Rights, solo show at NOME gallery, 2019, Berlin - Germany

Selected bibliography
Monitoring Control, Book, NERO Editions, Italy, 2022, ISBN 9788880561569
The Regulation of Social Media Influencers, Book, Edward Elgar, UK, 2020, ISBN 9781788978279
Arte y copyright, Book, CSIC, Spain, 2020, ISBN 9788400106324
L'Arte di Paolo Cirio nella Società dell'Informazione, Catalog, Lulu, U.S., 2020, ISBN 9781716839214
Es wird ein bisschen unrentabel, Springerin, Magazine, Interview, Germany, 2020, N. 01
Images RIghts, Catalog, Lulu, U.S., 2019, ISBN 9781794756328

Selected pictures of the Attention artworks



Attention, @kimkardashian


Attention, @vandajanda


Attention, @rio19891015


Attention, @cameonistas


Attention, @robertocarlomx


Attention, @alina_tapilina


Attention, @classandfashion_official



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