Public Performance of the Self

“Public Performance of the Self” hinges on the dual meaning of the term ‘to perform’ - which means both to conduct an action and to present oneself to an audience.

Zittel performs herself as she participates in the various activities of everyday life in the public realm. The performances are then written up in language that morphs the dry descriptions of 1970s performance art with the level of detail often found in social media posts. (Clothing, cosmetics, hairstyle, etc). The photos are taken with a cellphone by friends and family who are with her at the time of the outings.

The performance of the self has been amplified ever more in recent decades, first through the arrival of reality TV and then through social media, which puts a premium on how we perform every aspect of our intimate personal lives. Both in everyday life, and in the representations these lives, we are all public performers of ourselves—and it is through these performances that we come into being.