I, me, mine, (2019) is a surreal mixed-media environment that investigates prevalent social obsessions of vanity and ignorance. This installation acts as a platform for a performance, as well as the catalyst for an augmented reality experience. The work references the myth of Narcissus by focusing on a life-sized marbled figure that appears to have an excessive or erotic interest in herself. She is surrounded by a number of humanoid objects and busts gazing eternally at themselves or their doppleganger. In the performative element, the artist assumes the likeness of the sculpture by way of a mask and body paint to then replace it in the space. The filmed performance is presented through an augmented reality application on a smartphone. It automatically plays when the viewfinder of the camera recognizes the installation. This presents the viewer with two simultaneous contradicting realities. One reality exists ‘in real life’ and the other exists on the screen as simulacra. Furthermore, the installation is pointedly built as a stage as though the subject of the space went to elaborate means to present herself in a particular way. Like Narcissus, who longingly stared and then drown in a pool reflecting his own image, the image of the vain figure in the installation is reflected many times through literal mirrors, the artist’s performance, and through the activation on the screens of our phones and tablets.

LAUREN CARLY SHAW

LAUREN CARLY SHAW