Self-timer art

With around eighty pieces of work by 27 artists taken from the Austrian Federal Photography Collection, in a dialogue with 'expanded' photography by international artists, the museum is presenting a history of photography based on self-timer imagery. Across all generations, the exhibition places the omni-present theme of photographic self-portrayal within the context of media critical art history, thus bringing the history of self-timer photography as an emancipatory 'click' into the present.

A popular practice in both daily life and in art, the use of the self-timer interacts with technical developments, where the self-timer cable, the digital remote trigger or a simple hand reaching towards the camera, may appear in the images. With the click of the camera (artificially created in the case of digital photography), the 'I as auto-timer' becomes prevalent and thus marks the relationship of subject and world, which has always been inseparably linked with the media.

For centuries, the self-portrait has been considered an art category in its own right; nowadays, due to social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, it has become an omnipresent phenomenon of popular culture. In this sense, the exhibition is anchoring the present-day «Selfie-Hypes» within the History of Art, inviting viewers to 'get their own picture' of it.

Further information at Museum der Moderne