I’ve written this for the sake of argument.

The one-sided digital gaze

The phenomenon of social media and youtubers talking about their daily lives – I find it strange, almost perverted that thousands of strangers download and watch their content. This is also the same for ordinary people who post content on Instagram and other social networking sites. It is intended and encouraged for the content to be seen by strangers, but there’s an uncanny relationship between the person who has posted, and the viewers who have watched. Technically it’s not classed as a relationship because it’s not reciprocal (as in one party, the one posting, hasn’t met the other party), but the first party is vaguely aware of the latter party, and the latter party knows the first party too well. It’s also the equation of stardom. Andy Warhol was onto something when he suggested everybody would one day be famous for 15 minutes.

How is this related to the line of enquiry?

I consider the other, the gaze(s), the viewer stance, and my (or more generally, the artists’) stance to be important in the works. I think the digital gaze is one aspect of the gaze. It’s just the awareness of other people, and then changing one’s behaviour to suit the group. I also think it’s important in creating the impulse to make work – why make artwork if no one is going to see it? David Bayles and Ted Orland concluded as the reason why most artists stop making art, in their book – Art and fear. (it’s a good book underlining the methodologies of art practices, and how to keep making artworks after graduating from art school).

Analysing the work, Shooting Range (2023)

This is predominantly a one sided gaze, because it doesn’t prompt viewer to look at who they are as a person (feminine gaze). The phone makes the viewer into a visual object to be desired, as opposed to a subject having motivations and desires.

This is a more two sided gaze as opposed to the male gaze, because the crosshairs is coming from the viewer, and asks the intimate questions of what the emotions and motivations on cupid are.