Hoaxing Instagram: Amalia Ulman Exposes the Tropes of #Instagirlhood

Abstract

Amalia Ulman is an Argentinian-born Spanish artist who adopted Instagram as a platform for an art piece titled Excellences & Perfections in which she used images of herself to portray a fictional character whose story unfolded over several months. Her images, replicating popular tropes of digital autobiographical performance were presented and widely read as “authentic” selfies. This chapter examines how Ulman’s Excellences & Perfections can be understood as an automedial work that uses networked photo-sharing practice to investigate: feminine embodiment and self-representation; self-branding via digital media; and the ways in which social media conventions shape the production and circulation of constructions of girlhood.