Ignasi Àvila.
November 2020
a.k.a @ignaudible
Ignasi Àvila is a young digital artist, content creator, cinematographer and photographer, although the best way to understand who he is nowadays is by picking up you’re your phone and looking up any of the Instagram accounts he’s currently running:
It all began when he was banned from Facebook. He uploaded a photo by an photographer called Tierney Gearon in which appeared two naked kids on the beach. To Facebook, that was enough to disable his account due to violation of the rules. After a mourning period, he hopped on the Gram Train and what a journey it’s been.
Today he’s here on trial for crimes such as non-stop content creating since 2016 and outside the box thinking he’s able to show with the way he communicates on social media. He’s the one responsible for our endless scrolling; he’s the one you find yourself double tapping nonstop at 3am in your bed while everyone else is sleeping. And somehow, among the infinite content that passes in front of our eyes every day, he’s been able to find his own voice and style through these accounts, which seems to be the most difficult thing when it comes to expressing one’s self nowadays. By creating a new language, one that’s intangible, one that has not yet materialized into a book or a physical form, and why should it?.
Social networks nowadays are not only a form of entertainment or an art form, but also “an extension of the way we communicate with one another”.
Of course, every good thing has its downside. “I have a love/hate relationship with Instagram. On one hand, I think it works great as a creative and collaborative space with friends and strangers. On the other hand, I think I waste too much time on it... time that I could invest in soul-searching activities of some sort... xd.”
Most of the accounts share a common attribute: the art of noticing details in everyday life. Each picture functions as a magnifier lens that reveals things that would stay unnoticed otherwise. “What motivates me is the idea of offering my friends (and whoever might be interested) content that’s a little bit different from what we’re used to. I try to look for the funny bits, curiosities… and at the same time, try to make it look super cool so that each account grid is like a little museum or collection.”
Although it all has a sort of parodic and comedic attitude, many of the accounts have a strong message behind it. In @hobo.aqui we can see how a single typography repeats itself numerous times in all kinds of signboards, posters, products… used even by Bon Iver himself, thus removing all sorts of glamour and originality in their designs when put together in a single grid. Very similar to @hobo.aqui we find @fffffffotosintesi, which shows pictures that have been damaged by sunlight.
Then there are others like @penyamenjantespaguetis, featuring all sorts of celebrities eating spaghetti. What is it about this dish that makes us want to see people eating it? It might be proof that celebrities are also common people who eat and poop like the rest of us. Might be something related to the aesthetics of the ugly, but that would require a separate article so we’ll leave it here for now. Following the celebrity themed narrative, there’s @behindbadgyal, which is pretty much self-explanatory. The aim, as Ignasi says, is to display how a celebrity can share the same space as someone who doesn’t even notice her there.
@behindbadgyal
Without wanting to, he’s created a network of people who participate in the content creation of some of these accounts. “Both @hobo.aqui and @fffffffotosintesi, as well as @penyamenjantespaguetis, have unexpectedly become collaborative projects where followers themselves send me photos. It’s not just me publishing content; everyone is a sort of detail hunter hahahah”.
@galleryofcoincidences is the most recent of his developments. “It shows two pieces that have some kind of resemblance between them. Some are clearly plagiarisms or inspirations that become evident, and others are probably random coincidences. The idea is to value the link between all artwork and between all artists.“
All in all, we can agree that, yes, screens are bad for you if abused, but since we’re all going to be looking at a screen anyway, might as well be something worth looking at. Something that might change the way you see the world when you look up, even if it’s just a bit.
When asked about the future of social media, Ignasi simply said:
no idea :(
Top 3 @ignaudible’s Instagram picks:
– @arelesbianseverywhere: Analysis and collection of the representation of the lesbian community in paintings from all ages.
– @titsfromthepast: the only female nipples that Instagram does not censor because they belong to old paintings.
– @calendariadvent: Local content km0 aimed mainly at people from Catalonia. They are trashy inside jokes but at the same time photos with artistic value.
#lol
Interview by The Bird Yellow