Self (ish)

Amy Wright

It has become something of a fashion for ideas to come into the public consciousness and then to be held as concrete, ironclad "truths". This is particularly true if the notion allows for, at least the appearance of, personal or moral superiority. One such idea that has actually reversed in recent years is the assumption that only criminals and soldiers have tattoos. While thoroughly ridiculous, this instance of tomfoolery was believed by large swaths of society until very recently. These days such petty, preposterous, presumptions are still common, particularly with regard to technology. A situation reaching all the way back to the beginnings of the digital age. While it was once popular to dismiss computers as "mere toys", the sands have begun to shift, beginning with the advent of social media and fully mobile digital devices and now many speak as though such devices have the power to shape the very form of the human mind.

Among the most common, and egregious, of the claims being made with regard to contemporary media infrastructures is that it is leading to a marked and unprecedented increase in the instances of so-called narcissism. To begin with the use of the term in the majority of contexts is faulty or at the very least based upon a false premise. Narcissism refers to a state in which an individual believes that everything that occurs, both positive and negative, occurs because of them. What most people are usually talking about in
such churlish condemnations is megalomania. Though even this designation is rather over-stating the case, as well as being farcically narrow in scope.

The apparent increase in seemingly self-centred behaviour has its basis not in prevalence but rather awareness. Citizens are no more self-centred now than they have been at any other point in human history. The primary difference is that, presently, people have become more able to put themselves into the public sphere with changes both in terms of recording as well as distribution due to advances, or at least refinements, in  technology. As a result the general populous have become more aware of what would have formerly been private citizens.

Partly what makes screeds against self-documentation, particularly selfies, absurd is the fact that people have found methods of documenting their bodies and lives since such means became possible, dating back to the parchment and charcoal self portraits of the Renaissance. Age-defining artist Artemisia Gentileschi was particularly known for this. Partly as a result of her having been banned from the art academies of the day due to her gender. Self-reference using mirrors became her only avenue to mastering anatomical rendering.

Vincent Van Gogh did a plethora of self portraits. mostly because his reputation was such that he couldn't' get anyone else to sit for
him. Being nicknamed "The Mad Dog" will do that. The only significant difference between this form of self-portraiture and what is being done now online is the comparative ease of production and publication facilitated by digital photography and the Internet. Both of which were heralded as grand advancements when they were first launched. One tech entrepreneur going so far as to state that the Internet was "the greatest innovation since the invention of fire." Apparently he’s never heard of the telephone.