Cybernetic Self Curation

Abstract:

I propose an oral presentation that explores the possibilities for self construction and presentation in the twenty-first century. Through an examination of the history of identity construction from the beginning of the modern period to the present day, I argue for a new understanding of self presentation that is rooted in the material conditions of the digital era. The rise of hyperconsumerism and the use of algorithmic functions in the creation of virtual selves provide a framework for people to curate their own identities and present themselves to others. Curated selves are aesthetically oriented and performance based. I theorize the phenomenon of “aesthetic avatars,” which are object-based schemas for self presentation that are influenced by mass-mediated images and commodities where bedrooms become backdrops and clothing is the subject of fit pics. Categorical tropes emerge based on aesthetic curation of life that manifest in schematic visual themes encompassing what one wears, studies, sleeps on, suffers from, believes in, eats and consumes. Curated selfhood holds the potential to imagine new forms of embodied existence that go beyond the problems of a modern, unitary self. This presentation will contribute to ongoing conversations in philosophy by exploring the coexistence of various forms of self-construction and presentation in the digital era, providing a framework for understanding selfhood in the context of digitized capitalism.