Keynote lecture given at the InternationalConference on Sensoric Image Science, Sassari July24, 2014.

Bent Fausing

SELF-MEDIAThe Self, the Face, the Media andthe Selfies

Opening…

I first coined the term, Self-Media, in my article “Selfies shape the world. Selfies,

healthies, usies, felfies" (March 2014, see references p. 14). I had no opportunity at

that point to go deeply into the term and its implications. I will try to do that

subsequently.

The self and identity is not only issues connected to the selfies. It is connected to the

development of media since the renaissance; this is the thesis of the following key-

note. The subject, the self, is most clearly exposed in the face, and face and identity

becomes important in the media since the renaissance. The selfies is just the newest

development is this tradition, which began with the invention of the mirror, the book

(printing), and the miniature painting. They all put the subject as both maker and

receiver in the center. This was the birth of the modern subject. The development

continued throughout the coming centuries. The selfies is the latest invention to

discover, explore, visualize and find the self of the subject. The following will

therefore naturally focus on the self, the face where the self is most clearly

expressed and seen, and the self-media, where the subject can face itself.

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The SelfSelf-reflection

We are experts about things that concernourselves one would think. No one else knowsour thoughts, longings, doubts, recollections,and stories like we do. Yet, other people havethe upper hand in one decisive respect.

They can see our faces. In order to have atleast some of the knowledge others have aboutus, we can use a mirror to see our faces.Alternatively, we can take a selfie. Let us bereflected in the mirror or in a picture ofourselves and, through that, reflect upon

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ourselves. We are distinguished from theanimals through our self-consciousness. If wehold a mirror up in front of an animal, itthinks it sees another of its own species.Apart from certain chimpanzees, animals do notidentify themselves as themselves. To look atyourself in a mirror or to depict yourself ina self-portrait, a selfie, is a form ofreflection that not only separates us from theanimals but also from other human beingsbecause, through self-reflection, we step intocharacter and become individuals. In addition,it is also an action by which we becomesomething „in ourselves.‟ We literally becomeunique.

Our ability to see ourselves when we look atourselves is something uniquely human. Bybeing reflected in the mirror and in apicture, the selfie, we become different fromall other individuals despite the many commonfeatures in our faces. It is not for nothingthat reflection means to bend back, to mirror,and to think. In their mirror images,individuals bend back toward themsel-ves inorder to observe themselves and their possibleinteraction with others. Through the sight ofourselves, we also get an opportunity toassess ourselves and think about ourselves. Inthe mirror and the image of our self, ourexternal face meets our internalconsciousness. When we look in the mirror orat a selfie, the face comes to possess usbecause it shows the appearance to which weare bound or wish to mask. We acquire self-consciousness and, in a broader sense, self-reflection. How do I look to others? Will theyaccept me?

The mirror stage (J. Lacan) is the phase inwhich children become self-conscious of their

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adequacy or inadequacy in their mirror imageand by comparing themselves with others asmirrors. In the selfie, it is instead an adultor near-adult who is testing and seekingacceptance and recognition from the outsideworld through a mirror image. The differencebetween the mirror stage and selfies consistsprimarily in the fact that it is unexpectedlyadults who are seeking accep-tance.

Visualize oneself into being

In 2007, in an article called “Why Youth(Heart) Social Network Sites” theanthropologist Danah Boyd explained that one“writes oneself into being” in social media.That statement is no longer true. Now, withthe changes on Facebook with Timeline, theemergence of Pinterest and Instagram, and thechanges in the old picture platform Flickr,the statement should more properly be: onevisualizes oneself into being. Four paralleltrends have arisen in social media in recentyears. The first is that online sharing hasrequired less and less time. The other is thatsocial media have become more visuallyoriented. The third is that topic-centerednetworks are replacing group-centered sites.

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The fourth is that there is shift from makingwritten and substantial comments to indicatingone’s presence by short statements a la „wow‟or the use of visual signs for example, aheart. Pinterest and Instagram represent theculmination of all four trends. In addition,the selfie is an important means of expressionabout the self in this development in thesocial media and the most important factor inthe development of these changes. The camerais used as a mirror in the selfie; often,there is an actual mirror in the picture, sothere is a reflection in a mirror, since thepicture shows it all. The mirror stage is thestage in which children become conscious oftheir competence or incompetence in theirmirror image or by relating themselves withothers as mirrors. The eyes of others formespecially important mirrors for self-development. The mirror image functions in asimilar way in the selfie, albeit with theaddition that it is no longer about a smallchild. Instead, it is an adult or near-adult

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who tests and seeks acceptance and approvalfrom the outside world through the mirrorimage in the selfie. The image of oneself isimportant and not necessarily a narcissistictendency. It is necessary for the constitutionand existence of an ego that it receiverecognition. The philosopher Axel Honneth seesan anthropological need necessary for life inrecognition, which is founded early betweenmother and child and which becomes a matrix onwhich all later acceptance and recognition iscreated.

The Face

About faces and the importance of the faces

We meet the world with our face. We are faceto face with the surroundings. We arerecognized first of all by our face. It is nota coincidence that social media is calledFacebook and not Footbook. It is also in theface all our senses are situated. The face toface between mother or parent and infant areof crucial importance for the development ofthe child’s later interactions and ability tobuild up relations and maintain interaction(cf. D. W. Winnicott, D. Stern, and S.Turkle*). However, we also learn how tomanipulate with face, to put on literarily ormetaphorically a mask. The avatars appearancewill tell a lot about our wishes and fears,dreams and desires, hopes and anxieties.

The word façade, to put on a façade, come fromface. You put on another and maybe fake face.

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The images here have been taken to seedifferent facades in different environments.Some were - following Paul Valérycharacterization - silent, some humming, andsome were even singing. All the expressions aface can master. Some invited me close, someopened up, and some closed all doors andopenings. Here lies another thesis in myapproach to the facades: that we perceive aface no matter what we see. The fundamentalmatrices from the early stage between motherand infant follow us as a source of finding‘faces’ that we like or dislike, openings wewould like to relate to or not, transgress orstay away from. Children very often draw a caror a house like face, a several cartoons andtv-commercials have taught them thisantrophomor-phisation. The singing bagel is –still - my own favorite among the manyexamples.

The face mask

There are situations where we only seem seekone expression of face, not the ambiguity ofthe faces many expression and rapid changes ofexpressions. Yet we have to realize the facialambiguity is also significant in this case. Itapplies to the mask. By the mask, we can beall those we want to be. The mask is a visualnickname that does not seem to reveal the realidentity. We may show negative and positivesides like aggression and desires withoutexpressing who we really are. We areapparently not personally responsible for ouractions with the mask on. The mask is in atime of surveillance, computer technology andtelevision an essential tool for any bankrobber, thief and terrorist.

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The criminal or quasi-criminals, those thatexceed the law or take it into their ownhands, as the banned terrorist organization,the Ku-Klux-Klan, and their mask, select themasks. The mask allows for violating the lawand preserve anonymity. Photographer AndresSerrano took a famous picture of a Ku-Klux-Klan member, he did in this context reveal thedifference between the terrifying impressionthey did with the mask and cowl, and so thepoor and oppressed appearance in people'sfaces, which appeared without disguise.

Conceal and reveal

Within the actor-jargon is the phrase 'puttinga mask’, i.e. putting makeup and wig. Theperson who makes it is a 'masker'. We alsohave a range of everyday phrases, where maskis included to highlight that facialexpressions are concealed by another, will beplaced in other words, a mask over the actualexpression, we can try and 'keeping upappearances'. It can also be 'tight in themask', so watch out gruff and take oneparticular expression of him- or herself, likea mask. Alternatively, a synonymous word wecan use in one such case, 'facade'. We can tryto 'keep up appearances' and not betray ourreal aim and preference. We can only try,because the face like the rest of the bodyincludes pre-conscious and unconscious signalsthat can be difficult to control. Even pokerplayers reveal itself precisely through itscontrolled control.

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The right mask you put on and this bodily egois formed masks toys. Masks are faces thathave been acquired, immediate personalities.The mask is the most immediate and widespreadform of disguise of the face of the self - andthus the transformation of the whole person -that exists. The mask is the imagination'sface, because with a mask, we can be anyone,we want to be. But the masks we choose,however, also expose us. The mask conceals andreveals.

In other words: actor-playing is the mainreport about the person. The mask may thenunmask the figure behind, and will thus not toconceal but to bear. The impression management(Erving Goffman) may therefore reveal thedreams and longings of the personae trying tostage her- or himself. Photographer andessayist Richard Avedon talks about aperforated performance, but this is notsomething that should put down the image; onthe contrary. The mask reveals the surface andcontains synthesis. The surface is all wehave. It tells about our wishes, desires,longings and thus hidden dreams.

A similar argument lies with psychologistSilvan Tomkins, who does not see the affect assomething hidden, a deeper truth, which isconcealed, rather as something very directlyand clearly manifested in facial skin. Alongthis line, Avedon explains about the opennessof the mask: "The matter is that you cannotget to the thing itself, the image projectedtrue nature by tearing over surface away. Faceis all that is. One can only get behind thesurface by working with it. ” (R. Avedon“Borrowed dogs” in: B. Sonnenberg ed. Perfor-

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mance and Reality New Brunswick 1989:117). Now wearrive at something essential, because on theone hand, a mask can hide. It is on the otherhand, an ambivalent and ambiguous cover, whichmay say more about the real person than thebare face. While there may be discrepanciesbetween the actual person's being and thefacial features that belong to it, and thenthe mask face.

Transformation or transfiguration or to hidethat is the task of the mask. It is also themask that we may be revealed in his deepestdreams and desires. The transformation, of theperson by changing the facial expressionthrough the mask helps us to go from beingwhat we are, to be what we want to be. Withthe latter in mind, it is therefore notunnatural or difficult to understand why themask perceived simply as a face come tosymbolize "the solar and energetic aspects ofthe life cycle." (J. E. Cirlot Symbols London1990:206). This transformation is not asecret, but something that expresses - clipped- potentials and action. Another step to besuggested in relation to the media that hasbeen discussed above. Sherry Turkle is talkingabout the 'role play' (in Life on the Screen NewYork 1995) such as in therapy groups andtheater workshops, face to face, versus theparallel lives, who lived on the Internet'svirtual chat groups – and now Social Medianetwork - alongside the physical being in reallife.

In the traditional face-to-face role play, westep in and out of the mask, so to speak. Whenthe meeting or the weekend is over, so youstep out of character. Chat groups and socialmedia offer rather an expression, a mask ifyou will, which is a parallel identity to the

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real identity and boundaries are more fluid,even after you have logged on. However, it isalso an expression of opportunity andstrength. We carry the potentials andempowerment in us and both can make themselvesknown in the concrete and virtual face masks.

We never lose face; we see them everywherearound us.

The Self-Media

The development of the self-medias

Wherever they may be, people look at mirrorimages of themselves every day. In front ofthe mirror in the morning, during the courseof the day in the bathroom, and in imagesmirrored in windowpanes and shiny surfacesaround town. Mirror images permeate ourprivate and public spaces. Every human beingis familiar with his or her entire bodily

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appearance including facial expressions,gestures, and body language. Our creation ofand experience with this appearance isembedded as an essential component of ourconscious and uncon-scious knowledge.

It is hardly possible to imagine a worldwithout mirrors and the loss of familiaritywith the self that such a world would mean. Weknow that vagrants and homeless people canlose the internal image of their ownappearance, so they can no longer immediatelyrecognize themselves in a mirror.

The chemist and writer Primo Levi recounts thehuman features of the mirror in more than onesense in surroundings in which humanity itselfhas disappeared: "A young prisoner atAuschwitz sees two women looking at themselvesin a mud puddle. There are no mirrors in thecamp – in order to prevent suicide attempts[!]. They turn their backs to him, they have ascarf around their heads, and their clothesare hanging in tatters. He looks carefully atthe muddy water and recognizes some features.They are his cousins, bringing him news fromthe family." (If This Is a Man New York 1987: 10).Can there be any hope in seeing a mirror imageof yourself when you have ended up in aninferno like a Nazi concentration camp?Through the mirror and the mirror image, youcan see in your face the humanity so lackingelsewhere in the camp. Even the elementalconditions for consciousness that are inseeing and, observing oneself and then,perhaps, achieving clarity are essential tostress in conjunction with the sense ofvision, mirrors and visual media.

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In another concentration camp, prisonersmanaged to hide a small, old mirror with badsilvering. In the evening, the mirror wassecretly passed from prisoner to prisoner likea sacred relic in which everyone couldidentify their faces and thereby once againtry to get one of the most important landmarksfor the human being into their consciousnessthrough the mirror. In places where allhumanity seems to have disappeared, the mirrorreturns to prisoners the essential image ofhumanity, the face.

A self-duplication

We have this knowledge of the body and theface not only as constructed from earlychildhood through the active exploration ofthe world and through our use of the body andthe senses. We also have a mirrorconsciousness, understood as a concept of ourexternal self via reflection in mirrors, whichis linked to the possibility of self-reflection. We have, so to speak, a view ofourselves from the outside, and yet it is fromthe inside, because it is ourselves – from theperspective of ourselves. A self-duplication:We look at ourselves with our own eyes and notthose of others. We are both subject andobject in the mirror.

Our self and self-consciousness has becomemore and more prominent since the Renaissance.It is also during the Renaissance thatindividuality starts to appear in smallportraits, through individual tales andreadings of books, and through the inventionof the mirror. In all these new media

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characterised by the formation of a discretescreen around the individual's perception, itis the individual, the self, which creates andis created in the encounter with the media. Asingle human being in Western culture is not;first and foremost, part of a tribe or afamily as is the case, for example, in theArab world. We are, primarily, ourselves, andthe pronoun branding of our time expressesthis: MySpace, YouTube, iPhone, iPad, iCloud…

A round up and recapitulation through thismodel:

Renaissance, 1600 1839 1929

2006 2014

______________________________________________________________________________________________

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mirror photography, reproduction, tv YouTube, selfies

book (printing) mechanical revolution, 2.0, ‘You’,

(miniature) painting modernity digital rev.,

late moder-

nity

focus on subject/individuality………….

Self-portrait: I see myself

Of course, this is due to the interaction ofmany things: work, religion, upbringing,schooling, and much else. It is also supportedby our image culture in contrast to the Arabworld's ornamental visualizations. The imagesaround us also mirror human beings in theirway and help them to a consciousness ofthemselves. Self-consciousness. Thedemocratization of the mirror is, presumably,the factor that has most extended andconfirmed impact for our self andindividuality.

At the same time, with the invention of themirror, small easel paintings began to takeover from large murals. The reduced format andincreased liberation and secularisation ofmotifs in relation to earlier divine lawsencouraged a different technique in the artistand a different gaze from the observer. Boththe technique and the observation became muchmore intimate and individual. The same thingapplies to the self-portrait, which arises atthe same time as the mirror. The mirror andthe self-portrait accentuate the same newmeanings in Western society: to view oneself,to create a reflection of oneself and therebythink about oneself and one’s situation.

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As In a Mirror

Optical media and the mass experience

With the mirror follows yet another mediumthat is directly linked to the invention anddissemination of the glass and the mirror,i.e. the camera, which is made possible byoptical lenses produced from glass. The cameracould create mirror images, portraits, andself-portraits. Masses of them.

In the wake of the emergence of the camera andits optics came other optical media – film,TV, video, web-cam and smartphones – that wereparticularly well-suited to reproduce theface: the close-up. The photograph and relatedvisual and audio-visual media were part of asociety that turned toward mass production andreproduction as well as mass communication.This new production and communication providedmass experiences and, through this, providedfor many people easy and inexpensive access tosee themselves and, therefore, attain self-identity, as opposed to exclusive portraitpaintings. As in a mirror.

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Notes and references:* Winnicott plays an important role in Sherry Turkle’slatest book, Alone Together: Why we expect more from technology andless from each other (Cambridge, Mass. 2011). On Facebook shestates July 15, 2011 to Jessica Broitman about theimportance of Winnicott: "Jessica Broitman: Ahhh you andwinnicott.Sherry Turkle: Definitely, I like to thinkthat I am channeling Winnicott for the digital age. Onein which we are forgetting the importance of connection(and of solitude!)."

I first coined so to speak the term Self-Media in anarticle, which was published in Danish in February andin English in March 2014. Here are the two links to theEnglish versions of my articles, where you also willfind further references and elaborations about Self-Media:

https://www.academia.edu/4418191/Selfies_and_the_Search_for_Recognition._See_for_your_Selfie

http://www.scribd.com/doc/213679678/Selfies-Shape-the-World-Selfies-Healthies-Usies-Felfies

I would also like to draw attention to this article:

https://www.academia.edu/191097/Soulful_Technologies._Everyday_Aesthetics_in_New_Media

These articles also exist in Danish, Swedish and German.

I also point to the references in the text. The textwill be published in an anthology with different othercontributions to the conference and with all referencesincluded.

Thank you to Theresa Senft for the way she and her gangrun the Selfie Research Group on Facebook. Indirectlythis has been a great inspiration.

Many heartfelt thanks and thoughts to the researchers,students and other people who attended the conference inSassari, and who participated in the discussion. Yourpresence and questions was highly appreciated and very,very stimulating.

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Bent Fausing, July-August 2014.

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