Ashley Metro x ByJayoh : The Great Deconstruction

Throughout time we have always found ways to categorize. Now a system has been created to make that simple. Social media divides us not only from each other, but from our social foundations. This Deconstruction causes a feeling of disconnect; a rift between the true self and an illusion created as a reflection of trends and ideas that shape our society.

When I visualized this shoot, I wanted to start as a series based on destruction of my artwork. I wanted to destroy this piece. I strongly believe that art (like everything else) is meant to be both changed and destroyed as a part of any  existence- nothing is meant to last forever. Art, like life, is naturally ephemeral

Ephemeral like the social media world we live in. For the background of this shoot, I painted something that referenced social media heavily. I ripped holes through the mural and had the models interact with these ripped pieces as a representation of my generation gaining awareness of the tears media rips through our psyche. I wanted everybody involved to actively destroy our idea as we created it, and encouraged the models to engage in the productive destruction underlying the shoot. 

This was my first shoot that I did as a collaboration with my friend ByJayoh, an incredibly talented photographer and videographer from Los Angeles. Jay shot these pictures on augmented film and created a short video on VHS. I painted on the models throughout the shoot  to create a surrealistic look; the finished pictures exist both in and out of reality, mirroring the warped world of traditional and digital interactions in which we live. 

The day of the shoot I quickly rolled out  the photo paper I was using and painted the backdrop in about 2 hours. I didn’t overthink it; overall the message of this shoot was simple. Creativity is a blessing we channel through media. It helps thousands of artists gain exposure that results in plentiful work. As we use social media to validate our work, we need to choose not to let it define us. However, we need to remain aware of the detrimental effects of social media if we are going to progress past a society based on clicks, comments, and followers.