Picture Yourself

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BACKGROUND: Picture Yourself was a collaborative or co-productive project generated through a system that invited contribution from the future audience. Using a photo booth at a shopping centre, Pintos-Lopez photographed participants and recorded three-minute aural portraits as the images developed. The strip of photos was exhibited as a singular superimposed image, with the sound portraits presented as anonymous stories that viewers could listen to, disconnected from the particular portrait. The resulting portraits were exhibited at West Space Gallery. CONTRIBUTION: This project developed a new way of inhabiting consumerist public space through setting up a system that countered the singular narratives preferred by consumer experience. It sits within the field of participatory and relational art, drawing on ideas by Joseph Pine about the 'experience economy' and Michel de Certeau who describes a tactical, and essentially creative, way to negotiate the constructed environment. The research contributes to the field of experiential sculpture as it shifts relations between both the audience and the producer. This field has identified the audience as either passive consumers or engaged audiences, whereas this project presented a system that encouraged co-production of creative work, identifying the agency of the audience within any work as co-productive, not passive. SIGNIFICANCE: The significance of this work is evidenced by its selection by the West Space Gallery panel for inclusion in the Gallery's highly-competitive exhibition program. West Space has developed a significant reputation amongst Australian and international arts organisations in supporting experimental activities of artists within a critical context.