#SelfieThrone (2015)
On November 16th, artist Kat Wilson will present FROM THE NEON PULPIT #SELFIETHRONE, a new #SelfieThrone in collaboration with neon artist Derrick Maxey at Outfitter Roofing, 100 Towson Ave, Ft. Smith, Arkansas 72901. #SelfieThrone is an interactive photography project that enables anyone with a smartphone to participate in portrait-making on a themed professional set. For each installation of #SelfieThrone, Wilson collaborates with a different artist or designer to create a new set. The one-day-only event on November 16th is a collaboration with Derek Maxey of Maxey Signs and Neon, a neon artist. This installation engages the idea of the cult of beauty, with Wilson and friends serving as beauty evangelists, repeatedly insisting that everyone who visits the throne is beautiful. The #SelfieThrone project stems from Wilson’s interest in how digital technology and social media have impacted the work of professional photographers. Wilson invites participants to stand in the pulpit and take photos using their phone cameras, then share the photos on social media using the hashtag #selfiethrone. In this process, the artist controls the lighting, subject matter, composition, and content of the photographs, but doesn’t take the photos herself. In this way, Wilson makes way for amateur photographers to engage with fine art photography elements. ###