In the frame: the performative spectatorship of museum selfies

Museum selfies offer valuable visitor-generated insights into contemporary spectatorship. The author argues that visitors use museum selfies to disrupt the narrative of the museum and to activate the age-old topos of an artwork coming to life. As a practice-led accompaniment to its critical intervention, the article includes a close reading of the author’s museum selfies, captured at the Art Institute of Chicago. Intended for scholars and museum professionals, this preliminary theory of museum selfies illuminates overlooked dimensions of visitor response in the digital-age.