All Of Us, Looking at You, Looking at You
How a Brooklyn family turned their living-room window into a selfie mirror and art project for the community
Molly could hear the man singing half a block away. She hoped he would stop at her window. He did and, like hundreds before him, he was halted in his tracks by the sight of Molly’s handwritten sign.
It read, “#Greenpointglass / Free Selfies / @greenpointglass.” Molly had taped it to the frame of her living room window months before.
The man still had a chorus to go so he belted out the last minute of his song before he, like everyone else, reached into his pocket, dug out his phone, and pointed it at Molly’s window to make a photograph in the blue-tinted mirrored glass of her ground-floor apartment.
The Little Window That Could
Ever since January of 2013 when Molly moved in, people have been putting on a show.
“They’d chosen to ignore the fact that it is a window,” says Molly who lives with her partner Rob (last names withheld by request), a geriatric dog named Jasmine, and Marvin the kitten. “It is an experience to see strangers interact with their reflection while they are staring right at you.”
In no time, it simply made sense to formalize the self-observations, poses and preening. In early 2014, Molly made the sign “advertising” free selfies.
“I’m amazed at what people do,” says Molly, “pick their noses, get dressed, have funny face competitions. One girl watched herself cry for minutes as black mascara streamed down her face.”
Now Molly’s living room window — Greenpoint’s own “Selfie Window”—is a local landmark. Over the past year, a small patch of Brooklyn pavement has become a haven for impromptu portraits, in-jokes among friends and street performances.
Behind the Looking Glass
Prior to mounting the sign, Molly and Rob kept a Polaroid camera on the windowsill and built a collection of prints. But something was missing. There was no way for people to share their pictures, or for them to see the Polaroids.
The answer, of course, was Instagram. Molly and Rob discussed the wisdom of inviting even more attention to their apartment window. They didn’t want the block to become a circus, or for their neighbors to suffer any inconvenience. They decided to go for it.
“We put up the handwritten note with a hashtag, hoping people would join in,” says Molly. “So far the response has been positive and we try to keep it that way. We see a lot of the good and bad of people when they don’t think anyone is watching. We don’t want to post negative or mean photos. When we started this, we guessed that people would either love it, or we would get egged!”
The #greenpointglass selfie experiment has been a success. People love to pose. There’s the motorcyclist who drove his bike up on the pavement, the girl on the guy’s shoulders, and the two repeat offenders.
“They must live in the neighborhood — they take a lot of photos here!” laughs Molly. “Handstands, heads poking between each other’s legs, nipple-pinching, everything. They crack me up every time.”
The @GreenpointGlass Instagram account includes Molly and Rob’s photos alongside reposts of selfies owners tagged with #greenpointglass.
“A few times we have posted a photo of someone while they were looking at the account,” says Molly. “They look up and laugh when they realize what’s happening.”
#Greenpointglass’ most liked photo? The one of the local alley-cat known as “Fat Cat Chunkerz”—also known as “The Mayor of Lorimer Street”—with her dead mouse gift for the window.
The Selfless Selfie?
Humans are still trying to figure out what selfies are, what they do and what they mean. Most critics’ and academics’ attempt to theorize the selfie end up complicating or overthinking. Maybe selfies are a significant cultural phenomenon or maybe they’re just throwaway like a lot of digital culture?
Whatever else they are, they are certainly performance. They have culturally-dependent formulae and, as such, they are designed. The #Greenpointglass IG account localizes the selfie. Maybe, by focusing the selfie around one city block, #Greenpointglass transforms the selfie from something that belongs to distant individuals to something for a specific community.
When All Is Said and Selfied
Molly prefers to remain anonymous. She says she is not the story; the community use of the window is the story. She’s sat in bars and listened to people speculate whether it’s a fat perv behind the glass or that the whole thing is a savvy marketing campaign for a soon-to-launch window installation firm. Ultimately, Molly just wants to see people have a bit of fun.
“A lot of people come by and primp and prep before smiling. These are my least favorite photos and I have stopped posting them.” says Molly. “The best selfie is one that brings on some kind of emotion. Let’s see something unique! Let your guard down and goof off! The people who let loose a bit and have fun with the idea always walk away laughing.”
She’ll treat your selfies with respect and I guess, on that, we’ll just have to trust her.
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