JUNE 2017
https://www.instagram.com/brook_flowers/
a circadian reflection of the aspirational validation IG seeks to imbue its users.examining the TL as a feed of representation through a gaze of subjectivity in relation to identity both on and offline.the push of multi-layered url behaviour that often masks the pull of irl ubiquitous normality.presented as an anecdotal existential dialogue with the self to better understand struggles of inclusion, collective traits of purpose, and polarity of identities.
In searching for the connectors of cause, meaning and sense of resolve, Brooklyn J’s work fundamentally speaks to the tragic vulnerability of romance. They explores these themes of an existential nature, plagued by fragility, through video vignettes, digital observations, and photographic interrogations.
CURATORIAL NOTES
Pakathi’s residency leverages an existing platform, using temporary Instagram Stories (also known as Instastories) as a mode for communicating and reflecting on how “aspirational validation seeks to imbue its users”. Pakathi sets up and prompts conversations which occur daily over the two weeks, through iterance of these feelings as he grapples with inclusion and acceptance online, referencing the language and recurring motifs used in Instagram Stories and by its users.
There is a presumption that no physical space exists online or in the digital medium, however through the residency programme I have come to disagree with this presumption. Pakathi carves out this space respectively, allowing the user to access a fragment or glimpse into his thoughts. His residency is site specific, using an existing framework or format, a seemingly ‘public space’.
Pakathi’s work existed on his and Floating Reverie’s Instagram profile, which enabled him to access two very different audiences based on the other Instagram accounts that follow him and Floating Reverie. The work was the secondarily redistributed through Facebook as an update channel using Floating Reverie’s page. This redistribution is also seen as a re-contextualisation and not an iterance of the actual work. Pakathi’s audience was local to his residency, to his profile despite being geographically dispersed. He presents a temporary materiality, reliant (ironically) on social engagement.
