Faculty Sponsor

Sarah Jantzi

College

Other

Discipline(s)

Art

Presentation Type

Oral Presentation

Symposium Date

Spring 4-28-2022

Abstract

Imagine a place where people only perceive you as the best version of you: “perfect” appearance and “perfect” life. On social media it’s easy to create that perfect digital mask. Change your looks by editing or filtering photos to make your life appear faultless. But, it’s also easy to forget that other users can do the exact same thing and even easier to compare ourselves to these seemingly ideal faces and lives. My project is a commentary on the authenticity of people on social media by using a collection of illustrations, fake advertisements, and edited photos posted on Instagram. I created a devilish character to “run an instagram account/fake company” called “Stay Average Inc.” to persuade people to fall into the trap of changing their appearance with the goal of looking “better” or “more attractive” on apps like facebook and instagram. I wanted to personify the devil in your head that tells you every post and every selfie on social media is real, and convince you to stay like the average social media user: posting edited selfies and hiding every part of you that you don’t like.

Biographical Information about Author(s)

I am a senior digital media art major at Valparaiso University. My main inspiration for this series of work is that almost everyone I know has compared themselves to other people online. My goal was to create art to spread awareness to how social media can impact young people in a negative way.

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