The Dystopia of Instagram: Where Artistic Expression Follows No Rules
We are all familiar with Instagram. Nowadays, it has turned into the app that we all visit every 5 minutes expecting to see something exciting because the lord knows that this quarantine is killing us slowly. Instagram is a social media app where people like to share pictures and videos of themselves and everything that surrounds their lives. Or, we can also opt for Urban Dictionary’s definition, “Twitter for people who can’t read”.
Even though it is an app that is beloved by a generous amount of people, it has gained a very specific image in the past few years. An image of unrealistic life expectations promoted by users (mostly influencers and celebrities) that often post pictures that glorify an almost unreachable life and body type. So unrealistic, that many of its users have already been called out for altering their photos and supporting a fictitious human body.
Luckily not everyone on Instagram is like that. And no, I am not talking about the people that like to think that by posting a makeup-free photo they are saving lives, you know, one selfie at a time. Because even though we all know how brave they are, it just does not cut it. I am talking about the artists that took the utopia that Instagram strives to be and turned it into the dystopia that Instagram usually keeps in the dark.
Marco Mori posted on Instagram: "Y O G A /212/ . 🎧 Turn on Sound 🎧 . Caption? 🚀🔥🔥 . BG Color: @stephania_o . . #3D #animation #c4d..." * See 319 photos and videos on their profile.
Marco Mori shared a video on Instagram: "D I R K /164/ . 🎶SOUND🎶 . Mondays... although it's thursday 😄💥💥🏀 #thegraphicspr0ject #3Dart..." * See 319 photos and videos on their profile.
The first artist is Marco Mori. A German designer specialized in 3D animation that has collaborated with artists such as Kanye West, Young Thug, and Gorillaz. Just by taking a peek at his Instagram account (@macomoroni), one can already sense the type of portfolio that Mori has. Inspired by corpulent, wrinkly, and deformed characters, this artist introduces his followers into a gruesome, hyper-realistic and trypophobic world, that even though it is not attractive to the eye, is impossible to stop staring at.
In several interviews, Mori has explained the vision and inspiration behind his work. Tired of seeing Instagram celebrate an unattainable body image, he decided to base his creations on the unseen side of the app. A side that does not fit into its basic standards, but that is raw and unconventional. Mori frequently shows an atypical naked male with no genitals (due to the app’s restrictions), in a fluid and neo-surrealistic universe doing anything from playing sports to wrestling alone. Over the years he has gained a large audience that is infatuated by his work, especially because of how careless and unbothered Mori is about negative criticism towards his creations.
In the same category, we also have 3D German generalist Oliver Latta. Known for his repulsive yet pleasant animations, Latta (@extraweg) has also created a community of his own, where his followers are amazed by eccentric scenarios. Latta presents us with three levels of appreciation, one more complex than the previous one, and which together emerges in pieces that move between the beautiful and the grotesque. The pieces in the first instance attract us — visually — to the color palette and the game of contrasts that it handles; it forces us to stop and look. The second level of appreciation focuses on sensory experience since the plasticized, slippery and moldable textures of each character can be perceived even through a phone.
131.2k Likes, 4,503 Comments - Oliver Latta (@extraweg) on Instagram: "STEP INTO THE NEW MATTER. #step #matter #live #human #cg #cgi #designer #houdini #animation..."
Oliver Latta shared a video on Instagram: "RELEASED. #new #website #sponsored #wix @wix #truth #lie #deeply #pain #spot #squeeze #fetch..." * See 71 photos and videos on their profile.