Bodies under Glass: Gay Dating APPS and the Affect-Image

Abstract

There is a rise in the popularity of gay dating apps for smartphones that depict bodies under the glass of screens. The application Grindr is one such system, as well as Hornet, Scruff, Jack'd and many others. Recent literature draws attention to how Grindr perpetuates reductive stereotypes fetishised and consumed by a narcissistic homosexual market. Through Gilles Deleuze's concept of affection-image, I think through how images of bodies on these apps are transmitting or receiving affect. I then discuss some of my own artwork in light of this inquiry, in which I particularly consider the role of judgemental swipe-gestures and how they parallel the treatment of individuals' bodies as objects: disposable, manipulable and exchangeable. Through this artwork and its discussion, I aim to extend critical discourse concerning the treatment and reception of other subjects in gay online communities, as well as the examination of bodies, fetish and sexuality by artists of contemporary media more generally.