Selfies like you've never seen them (pictures)

The curated "National #Selfie Portrait Gallery" collates 19 artists' short selfie videos, capturing infinite possibilities for the ubiquitous digital self-portrait.

Leslie Katz

Oct. 18, 2013 10:18 a.m. PT

1 of 9

Marina Galperina/Animal New York

Ringtones

Not all selfies are created equal. The "National #Selfie Portrait Gallery," a curated installation of short-form videos engaging with the "selfie" medium, covers a range of styles and moods, from poetic to humorous to subversive. This is an image from artist Yung Jake's video, titled "Old Ringtones vs. New Ringtones."

2 of 9

Marina Galperina/Animal New York

Lil Icarus

Artist Jesse Darling, in a still from her short video "Lil Icarus." It's one of the films riffing on the modern selfie medium that's displayed in the "National #Selfie Portrait Gallery," a curated installation that opened Thursday at the Moving Image Contemporary Video Art Fair in London.

3 of 9

Video screenshot by Leslie Katz/CNET

bit.ly-GL27CV

Alexander Porter's short selfie film, titled "bit.ly-GL27CV," involves a digital 3D scan of his face, unfurled in pastel moving images like a pillowey landscape canvas.

4 of 9

Marina Galperina/Animal New York

Me and Ztv

The "National #Selfie Portrait Gallery" displays the work of 19 emerging artists from the US and EU whose short-form videos engage with the "selfie" medium. Like a number of selections in the installation, Carlos Saez' video "Me and Ztv" goes the route of experimental new-media portraiture.

5 of 9

Marina Galperina/Animal New York

Selfie Obsession

Kyle Chayka and Marina Galperina, curators of the "National #Selfie Portrait Gallery," say the selfie is "as omnipresent as the smartphone and as diverse as humanity itself." Here's Anthony Antonellis' take, titled "Selfie Obsession."

6 of 9

Marina Galperina/Animal New York

Succulent

A still from the short video "Succulent" by Paul Outlow and Jennifer Catron. The curators of the "National #Selfie Portrait Gallery" say the installation "explores the range of performativity, personality, authenticity, and expression inherent in the selfie form, from the instant gratification of its creation to the popularity contests of its publication. The selfie is as omnipresent as the smartphone and as diverse as humanity itself."

7 of 9

Video screenshot by Leslie Katz/CNET

Desktop Tekken

Artists including Rembrandt and van Gogh turned to self-portraits as an avenue for self-expression. Selfies, the modern equivalent, let anyone take their own picture with a digital spin. This still comes from the short video "Desktop Tekken" by EU artists Kim Asendorf and Ole Fach. It's among the videos currently on display as part of an installation at the Moving Image Contemporary Video Art Fair in London.

8 of 9

Video screenshot by Leslie Katz/CNET

Who's the subject here?

Artist Jayson Musson angles to get just the right selfie in his short video, a riff on the digital self-portrait included in the "National #Selfie Portrait Gallery" in London. Amusingly, he titles the video "The inherent problematics of a technology based portraiture method eclipsing the role of the subject, who, really is no longer the subject at all. Rather the technology itself is, so please don't be taking no selfies with a f*****g Windows phone. That s**t is deplorable son."

9 of 9

Marina Galperina/Animal New York

Two screens

The "National #Selfie Portrait Gallery" displays a rotating series of videos, 30 seconds or less, installed on two screens at the Moving Image Contemporary Video Art Fair in London.