Students look into the history of self-fashioning by combining art and social media.

• How were paintings, photographs, sculptures or other artistic representations of a person designed in different periods of art?
• How are they similar/different to portraits and self-portraits on social media platforms?
• How important is a user’s social media personality and to what extent can it be inferred from visual attributes in their feed?
• How do selfies and social media portraits influence self-expression and identity construction? To what extent do they change our self-perception?

These are some of the questions you will need to consider when analysing art work and evaluating your own self-representation and/or the self-fashioning of your idols. Feel free to choose a creative way to present your findings, for example in form of a COLLAGE.

TIPS:

1. It might help to narrow down your topic, for example to
– Beauty
– Fashion
– Old Age
– Youth
– Maculinity
– Femininity
– Sportiness
– Humour
– Intellect
– Love of…

2. When comparing social media to artwork, choose an in-depth approach. To learn about ONE particular artist and ONE blogger or influencer may be more interesting than a gallery of different creators, styles and periods.

3. It might help others to understand your chosen visual representations if you explain your choice.

4. Give your sources and don’t plagiarize.