My name is Jon Burgerman and I am an artist from the UK who lives in New York. I like seeing cool stuff on Instagram, but equally feel sad, bereft and lonely when I see that whilst I'm on the toilet, in the dark with no toilet paper left, a bunch of people are out partying, enjoying their exciting lives. Rather than becoming more outgoing I thought to remedy this self-pitying low I would simply insert myself into celebrities Instagram photos. A quick Insta-fix for the Insta-generation.
I hoped that the images would be funny and playful with a little serious side to it as well. As much as I'm making broad visual gags with crude collage techniques I wondered why we perform across social media to present a heightened version of our lives. Of course, it's fun but sometimes we use it as a means to compare ourselves with others and then feel bad about it, and that's certainly a lot less fun.
The rules I gave myself for my project "Jon's Famous Friends", or JFF for short, were simple. Firstly, I would only use photos uploaded to Instragram by the celebrities themselves onto their own accounts. Secondly, I would collage myself into the photos by using a simple straight cut across the sampled image. Finally, I would make sure none of this would take a lot of time. I am lazy and easily distracted.
More info: Instagram
Don't worry Kim, I'm an artist!
To be honest I have no idea how to apply make up and shortly after this photo was taken I scribbled with my Posca pen all over Kims beautiful face. I guess I'm just used to doodling over blank pages.
Apparently @caradelevingne thinks I taste like a pineapple because I'm so prickly!
Me and my #jonsfamousfriends buddy Barack Obama getting ready for Friday night by trying out some Obama Care brand methadone
A late night smoke with my good dawg Snoop Dogg who likes to bogart a bit too much
Had a wonderful time at the #vmas last night!
Thanks Selena for taking this picture of me and Taylor pointing at each other "No, you're the cutest!"
At first she said she didn't want an ice cream and then she decided she wanted some of mine!
Geez! I totally would have brought her one of her own.
No Donald, this isn't a story about the GOP debate tonight
It's @ivankatrump fault I had to babysit earlier. He's not a real #jonsfamousfriends btw.
Me and my bae Kim Kardashian celebrating... that she's super famous and that, of course, she's one of #jonsfamousfriends
Congrats to my girl Miley Cyrus who's gonna host the MTV awards and upset a lot of middle America
Here we were a few days ago sharing a churro!
My Sundays are all about hanging with good friends like Gwyneth Paltrow and smearing our bodies with a low fat cheese spread
It looks like someone has stolen my collection of stickers peeled off from apples and bananas and turned them into a bikini
I wonder if @emrata knows anything about this…?
I'm trying to play Minecraft in a club when Paris Hilton turned up wanting to play her record collection (mainly 90s rave anthems)
She promised to be quiet and go and read a book for an hour.
If one of the best footballers of a generation thinks wearing a sports bra is a good idea then who am I to argue?!
I've traveled back in time to help Schwarzenegger find his budgie
He said "this ride has no cruise control..." Tom Cruise just couldn't help himself
Cristiano won't come out of the spa unless I promise to towel him down
I told him to hold on a moment, let me finish my tea first. He's very demanding, ol' twinkle toes.
I've been helping my good friend 50 Cent rebrand himself now that he's run out of money
Chatting last night with Taylor - I was wondering what we were gonna watch on Netflix, she wanted to know why I didn't have any pants on
