In 2017, I became interested in Instagram as a platform for digital performance and for text/video practices analogous to interactive documentary filmmaking. Some of my Instagram stories from that era were sold at Galerie Galerie's digital art auction in 2019. Since then, I've iterated on a practice that aims to intervene directly in the viewer's life. Inspired by some creators' "digital breather" checkpoint, where they encourage doom scrollers to take a few breaths together before continuing their journey, I started making a series of stories that can only be watched slowly. These posts use "digital spells" to offer viewers ephemeral mana boosts, a rejuvenating essence available only during the fleeting 24-hour life of each story. By existing on the platform as a real person and engaging with me as a real person, they allow the stories to affect them without the distance of the gallery. When I say "you," I really mean you specifically.
