Evolving with the rapidly changing times we are in, Gajah Gallery is proud to present our first online exhibition featuring a solo show by the innovative Indonesian artist Rosit Mulyadi, entitled, A Scanner Darkly.
Fittingly apt given current circumstances, Rosit explores the nature of self-presentation online: construction of identity through the mediated screen of our digital devices. As part of worldwide efforts to fight the pandemic, nationwide quarantines have radically altered these digital interactions further, where they are now seen as an essential part of our daily lives and work.
The stylistic choice Rosit makes for this new series is a combination of the traditionally taught artistic practice of copying Old Master works and the remix culture of the internet, partially modified and abstracting these images to communicate an aura of vagueness and obscurity, serving as a metaphor for the self-construction process in today’s social media age.
To Rosit, living in the social media age feels like an attempt to find oneself by looking into a mirror, only to discover that the mirror has turned opaque, fragmented, and distorted. We are living in an era where interactions are mediated and disembodied; where everyone is co-present everywhere at once.
The self-editorial capacity content creators have on social media platforms further blurs the distinction between visual media (photo and video) as proof, or indeed, deviation from the truth. One is pushed to continuously rotate their identities, creating not one, but multiple ever-changing selves.
On the other hand, the public nature of social media could affect how one values oneself; others are imagined to be disproportionately influential and therefore the self is perceived as weaker. The reaction of the online others need not be deciphered, as it has become standardized in the form of social media points, governed through different algorithms, posing the question:
How can one ever be confident in the validity of their self-reflections anymore?
