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 adverts by online influencers.
Selected shows and presentations history
Images Rights, solo show at NOME gallery, 2019, Berlin - Germany
| 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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