[Best of 2014] The Year in Selfies

From Drone Selfies by IOCOSE, via

From Richard Prince’s New Portraits exhibition at the Gagosian to high fashion brands like Moschino and Christian Cowan-Sanluis making mirrored hot pink iPhone cases and The Selfie Hat, respectively, the selfie was a thing of cultural fascination in 2014. This year, TIME Magazine released a map of the most “selfiest” cities in the world, the UK Electoral Commission ran a “Post No Selfies” campaign during their elections, and multiple identity fraud cases surrounded people accidentally posting selfies with their paychecks.

It was also the year of the #artselfie, seen through statues taking selfies, classical portraits taking selfies, Beyoncé and Jay Z taking one with the Mona Lisa, a student in Milan breaking a 19th Greco-Roman century statue in attempt to take a selfie, and ultimately, #artselfie a published book on the subject. All in all, the tech-assisted self-portrait had a big year in 2014. 

This is the Year in Selfies:

+ In April, NASA created a 3.2 gigapixel global selfie using images sent in from over 100 different countries. 

+ Star architect Asif Khan installed selfie monuments at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics.

An image from selfiecity. via

+ Immersive statistics project selfiecity visualized 3,200 personal images as a data-driven photo collection. 

+ In May, artist Teresa Dillon curated an exhibition about how selfies have changed over 21 years.

Photographer Lee Thompson atop the 2,300-foot statue of Christ the Redeemer. via

+ We took to crazy heights and soaring spectacles to snap selfies with daredevils.

+ Thanks to The Vermont Novelty Toaster Corporation, you can now eat toasted versions of your best selfie.

+ An artist tried to claim ownership over an accidental selfie taken by a monkey. VICE talked to a lawyer about the case’s implications for intellectual property rights.

From Drone Selfies by IOCOSE, via

+ In July, Italian artist group IOCOSE created satirical images of drones taking selfies.

+ But in September, drones offered to help us take selfies.

From SightSeer by Brett Foxwell, via

+ Artist Brett Foxwell conceptualized an augmented reality photo browser that looks like the future of geotagged selfies. 

The #artselfie book. via

+ And last but not least, DIS Magazine and Jean Boîte Éditions published a book on the international phenomenon that is the #artselfie. 

This is part twelve of our end-of-the-year series. Stay tuned as we continue to look back on 2014 and collect all of our favorite examples of modern creativity, fantastic innovations, and important trends.

 Related:

[Best of 2014] The Year in Film

[Best of 2014] The Year in DIY

[Best of 2014] The Year in Emojis

[Best of 2014] The Year in Viral Art

[Best of 2014] The Year in Fashion and Tech

[Best of 2014] The Year in Animation

[Best of 2014] The Year in Art Discoveries

[Best of 2014] The Year in Sound

[Best of 2014] The Year in Brains

[Best of 2014] The Year in Sculpture

[Best of 2014] The Year in Robots