(Online Activity – Instagram Research, 1+ hour)
For this impulse I did something I’ve been meaning to do for a long time: I stopped casually consuming Paulus Goerden’s content and instead looked at his Instagram account as a system. I have been inspired by him repeatedly throughout the last semesters, but mostly in a quick way, saving a post here, rewatching a reel there and moving on. This time I wanted to understand why it works so well and what exactly he is doing in terms of communication.
Paulus Goerden’s account functions like an ongoing format: a mixture of art practice, observation, performance and public mediation. The topic is often the same (everyday installations, who would have thought :P) but the way he presents them shifts between several repeating categories. This is interesting for my thesis because my research is also about framing: what makes people notice something and what makes something feel like “art” instead of “random objects.” On his account, the frame is constantly changing and he actively uses Instagram as a tool to shape interpretation.
capturing everyday installations
The first major category is the most obvious one: capturing everyday installations. Sometimes this happens through photography, sometimes through video, but the focus is always on moments that already exist in public space. The objects are not created by him. They are found. What makes them his work is the act of noticing, naming, and documenting them. This is directly connected to my own approach, but Paulus’ account shows how far you can push this without turning it into a simple “look what I found” archive.
reconstruction
The second category, which is the one that influenced me the most recently, is reconstruction. In the reel “Ein Versuch es einzufangen,” he shows an analogue miniature version of a found everyday installation and explains it. This approach adds a second layer to documentation: instead of only translating the installation into an image, he translates it into an object. That shift is important, because it makes the act of observing visible. It is not just about capturing a moment. It is about re-building it, re-seeing it, and showing that the installation has structure and intention even if it originally had none. This connects strongly to my own idea of building miniature reconstructions for my exhibition.
meta-content
A third category is what I would describe as meta-content. Paulus frequently includes hate comments, misunderstandings, or audience reactions in his posts. He doesn’t hide the fact that many people think his work is “stupid” or “not art.” Instead, he uses that reaction as material. This is a communication strategy. It shows that his account is not only about presenting finished work, but also about making the discourse around it visible. The hate comments become part of the frame. And that is exactly what my thesis is concerned with: the question of legitimacy, authorship, and context. His posts show that meaning does not only come from the object, but from the conversation around the object.
personal presence
The fourth category is his personal presence. He often appears in his videos, speaks directly or shows behind-the-scenes moments. This makes the account feel less like a distant art project and more like a person building a practice in public. This is relevant because it shows how strongly “the artist” still functions as a framing device. Even though the installations are anonymous and found, Paulus’ presence creates continuity. It makes the audience trust the project. It also makes the topic accessible to people who might not normally engage with contemporary art.
Other
Finally, Paulus also posts content that is not directly connected to everyday installations — for example, his Fashion Week posts. At first glance, these seem unrelated. But they actually reveal something important: his attention is consistent. Even in a highly curated environment like Fashion Week, he searches for small unnoticed moments, shadow figures, awkward compositions, and accidental visual situations. This suggests that his practice is not only about street installations. It is about a way of seeing. And that is exactly what I’m trying to research as well: how perception can be trained and how attention can be redirected toward things that normally remain invisible.
Overall, the most important insight from this impulse is that Paulus Goerden’s Instagram is not just documentation. It is a communication design tool. It uses repetition, format, humor, conflict, and storytelling to guide interpretation. His work proves that the frame does not have to be a museum. The frame can be a feed. And in some ways, Instagram might be an even stronger framing device than a gallery wall, because it creates constant context: captions, comments, reactions, and the rhythm of posting.
For my thesis, this impulse is useful in two ways. First, it gives me inspiration for how to expand my own documentation beyond “just photography.” Second, it shows how important it is to think about the platform and the narrative structure around the work. Even if my final outcome becomes an exhibition or a book, the logic stays the same: framing is never neutral, and meaning is always negotiated.
Links
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DUoFC48DBPT/?igsh=MW93eXdwNHViZ3oxdw==
https://www.instagram.com/p/DUOMXJcDPt0/?igsh=MW1ldGZqa2R2cXc1ag==
https://www.instagram.com/p/DTptXdhDBAA/?igsh=dG84OTVoeHpnNjM0
AI Disclaimer
This blog post was written with the assistance of AI.
