2017 Bath Spa: Katie Sims investigates mirrors in Rome
Fine Art student Katie Sims went to Rome to better understand her studio practice, which revolved around the aesthetic of the mirror and the narcissistic assumptions around it in the West. She was already using mirrors as a performance artist, and was interested in our everyday use of mirrors and issues about self-love and narcissism. This was her chance to challenge her practice in Rome, the heart and invention of the glass mirror in the first century AD. She and her video-photographer, James Godwin, recorded reflection and light throughout the City, with a video performance in the Borghese Gardens, and visits to the Colosseum, the Forum, and the Pantheon among other sites. The experience was very valuable for her third year dissertation, an investigation into whether the selfie is affecting female behaviour in a narcissistic way.