This monstrosity is on exhibit at the FrameShop. We call it… #SelfieMonster. A selfie is a photograph taken by an invisible photographer, the ego, for perceived social approval, recognition, and advancement. Our mission is to reduce the creation of selfies and bring awareness to the negative effects of taking selfies. We, the FoRealism Tribe, give physical form and life to this self-centered pattern of expression and put it on display. We call this project the #SelfieMonster. Social media has produced a virtual Selfie Monster. Our mission is to purge the digital landscape of this Selfie Monster and bring it into the physical world. The FoRealism Tribe manifests this monstrosity by combining the proliferation of selfies that contaminate our field of vision to create the narcissistic, selfie-obsessed, selfie-absorbed, selfie-consuming, selfie-destructive… #SelfieMonster!

The #SelfieMonster on view at the Frameshop is entombed in a plexiglass display case. Visitors are presented with an interactive display which prompts them to take the #SelfieMonsterPledge. By taking the pledge, attendees promise to abstain from taking selfies in the future. They purge themselves of their last selfie and leave it as an offering to be added to the #SelfieMonster.

The #SelfieMonster also performs rituals and appearances during the FotoFocus Biennial 2016, undergoing a metamorphosis that destroys and degrades itself and the selfies, while also accumulating new selfies in the process.