“Party boy”, 2022
Wool, cotton on monk cloth, cm 70x50
Wool, cotton on monk cloth, cm 70x50
“Party boy” is the Narcissus of the digital age, unable to love, if not himself, idolizing his image in front of the lens of a smartphone.
J. Lacan identifies the phase he denies as the “Mirror Stage”, the moment when the child recognizes himself in the reflected image; in Freudian theorization on the process of development, the phase of the mirror would seem to coincide with the passage that leads to narcissism. Narcissus’ vanity conceals an extreme fragility: the constant need for approval.
J. Lacan identifies the phase he denies as the “Mirror Stage”, the moment when the child recognizes himself in the reflected image; in Freudian theorization on the process of development, the phase of the mirror would seem to coincide with the passage that leads to narcissism. Narcissus’ vanity conceals an extreme fragility: the constant need for approval.
The wrapping of appearance that covers the individuals caged in a sterile homologation, feeds on the fear of inadequacy and the anxiety of pleasure. This condition pushes, especially the youngest, to chase the behavioral models and aesthetic canons imposed by society.
Vanity makes us, like Narcissus, immune to love, which leads us to a further dynamic of social change: the increasingly ephemeral nature of relationships.
Vanity makes us, like Narcissus, immune to love, which leads us to a further dynamic of social change: the increasingly ephemeral nature of relationships.
In this individualistic drift, absorbed by fantasies of success, we see no more than the image of ourselves. I’m talking about flirting, relationships that don’t involve any real emotional ties. It is never a love that must be lived completely.
