Appreciation Post Towards an Art History of Instagram

What does an art history of Instagram look like? In this text Tara Ward addresses this question to show that Instagram is best understood as a structure of the visual, which includes not just the process of looking, but what can be seen and by whom. Tracing the platform’s own mythology for how it will be integrated into users’ lives, Appreciation Post highlights the ways the constraints imposed by the experience of viewing limit the kinds of selves that can be presented on it, showing how the proliferation of technical knowledge, especially among younger women, has produced a revitalization of the myth of the masculine genius and a corresponding reinvigoration of masculine audience for art. Ward prompts contemplation of the meaning of various aspects of Instagram and the deliberate choices on the part of actual Instagrammers: exploring what it is like to scroll through images on a phone, the skill involved in taking an “Instagram worthy” picture, and the desires created by following influencers. This approach reveals how Instagram is shifting long-established ways of interacting with images and makes an argument for art history’s value as a way of understanding the contemporary world and the visual nature of identity today.