No, that’s not a typo! This is not the mania that all young people love today. Having gained momentum over the past few years, the shelf craze (shelf + selfie) shows no signs of slowing down. The fascination with social media and the obsession with sharing make us flaunt everything. Or as wall shelves in the kitchen, either as Ikea Kallax pieces/storage units, they are practical for tidying up and saving space. A look at your interior via shelfie trend!
Shelfie trend: what is it the expression of?
Initially, it started as a base to showcase your library and impressive collection of books. On the other hand, it still is, but now you will still find cleverly organized shelves with plant pots, candles, picture frames and ornaments. In a way, it’s an opportunity to show off your style credentials and Pinterest users are currently going crazy for it.
In fact, the Shelfie trend prompted designers to invent freestanding wall shelves and walkway shelves for cats.
Since the Covid-19 has transformed the way we work by converting the domestic space into a “home office”, our foreground is now a combination of daily professional life projected onto our interior. As a result, the modest home library was transformed into a professional platform. The cloffice mission is the solution that makes small spaces “breathe”. The increase in online time has invited new habits and trends such as grabbing, sharing and liking shelves. The Shelfie trend invites visual essays on the ideologies, ontologies and epistemologies circulating on shelves in formal and informal contexts.
So, the Shelfies highlight ways of being, of thinking and of valuing or not valuing spaces.
What objects are put forward and in the background in the shelves?
In general, it depends on your own desire to make something visible or invisible. Thanks to the Shelfie trend, shelves break the cliché of simple storage and are adorned with epithets such as political, affective and hermeneutical. Plus, since you want to be associated with your shelves, you make them look sleek, tidy, organized, and of course, nerd.
Through exhibits, one can present and theorize people’s relationships to the liminal spaces we move through during and after COVID. The formula: “my shelf, it’s me or it’s my life” spreads on Pinterest, Instagram and other social networks.
Let’s raise the curtain on the missions of the shelfies
This new Instagram trend just passed a million and you wouldn’t want to be left out! In order to dissect the multimodal dynamism of the shelf, we have compiled an exhaustive list of all shelfie expressions and ideas: found and listed as practice experienced in the media.
- Shelving form and function : as a storage space and an element of furniture, they are mainly square and rectangular, horizontal, but there are vertical varieties.
- Shelfies as cultural signifierssocial and economic according to what they show.
- Semiotics shelves relates to their operation.
- Shelfies as affect : plants, photos, decorative objects or art.
- Shelfies as posthuman : this existentialist affirmation means that the shelves characterize the man even after his disappearance.
- Shelfies and the home-work dichotomy : a perfect combination.
- Shelfies as liminal spaces : where our perceptions end.
- The Shelfie trend and social media where we have the opportunity to share everything.
- The Shelfie trend and well-being : the shelf presents everyday life, as we have created it and we want it to be.
Shelfie trend and identity: my shelf is me!
Lately, many people are using the new skin care trend to blow up the internet. You don’t need to be an influencer to take a #Shelfie. And no, it’s not just a matter of routine. Apart from the shelves, the medicine boxes also took over the label. #Shelfies post photos of skincare products. Without hesitation, one is supposed to say that the new trend is a window into every person’s skincare routine.
It’s best to show what brands you use to better guide people through your experience. By writing “all the products I can’t live without”, you are indirectly advising: use the same brand or line of skin care products.
Finally, let’s say that the Shelfie trend is both intimate and voyeuristic because you see photos even of someone’s bathroom. It’s relatable, since people see themselves represented because, everyone has a bathroom shelf with beauty products. And finally, it’s aspirational because the shelves often feature high-end products or unknown brands, photogenic packaging, and versatile items that people would love to have.
My shelf is ME!
