A Pixelated Gallery : The Artist’s and the Contemplator’s Interaction on Social Media

This thesis examines a possibly changed character of the artists role within visual arts, as technical advances in digital media develops new forms of communication and interaction. The aim of the thesis is to review this potential change through analyzing two artist’s activities on the picture-based platform Instagram, as well as the artist’s relationship with the contemplator on the platform. The Swedish Instagram-based artists Gisela Ståle and Magda Lundberg narrates their operative work, thoughts on art and the relationship with their followers through interviews. The notion of the artist’s changed role and her relationship with the contemplator is investigated with media theorist Henry Jenkins theory of participatory culture and professor Miriam Salzer-Mörlings thoughts on brand identity and the construction of identity through commodities. Anchored in the evolution of the artist’s role from 1960s to present day, the results of the examination show that the role of the Instagram-based artist, in relation to the traditional artist, differs. She is dependent on the platform and the contemplator to operate outside the traditional art world. The art of the Instagram-based artist revolves around relationship- and identity-building themes. The platform Instagram prepares new methods of the artist to operate, as well as new artists. A new section of artists seems to have emerged within this platform, where the art revolves around interaction with the contemplator, and where the public eye proclaims the artist as an artist without the authorization of the traditional art world. The role of the artist broadens within, and through, the digital platform.