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Welcome to my blog. I document my adventures in travel, style, and food. Hope you have a nice stay!
Welcome to my blog. I document my adventures in travel, style, and food. Hope you have a nice stay!
In 1985, Joshua Meyrowitz predicted that electronic media would change the ‘situational geography of life’. At the time, imagining a world where physical location did not matter would seem to most a sci-fi fantasy. But the mobile phone soon changed this. Gradually, as the years went by, 24/7 communication, connectivity, work and social activity became incorporated through this single hand-sized object, allowing its activity to take place anytime, anywhere.
As a result, smartphone usage has soared, shaping the practices and behaviour of users on a daily basis. The average person checks their phone every twelve minutes, and over the past ten years, UK smartphone ownership has risen from 17% to 78% (Ofcom, 2018). As the global reliance on these devices deepens, we felt it poignant to dedicate this season to an exploration of the human relationship with this profoundly influential tool.
In Richard Cytowic’s article, he explores how screens compete with the brain’s innate drive to socialise, exploring how reduced face-to-face connection with babies can change their neural development. Andriana Oborocean’s video artwork traces the emotional pull of these devices, and Henry Driver’s attention grabbing C(o2)loud reminds us of the physical environmental toll of endless scrolling.
Explore this season and reflect upon the aspects of modern life that have been shaped by these devices. What sort of future do we expect as smartphones continue to integrate into everyday life?
Self tracking apps and devices have strengthened the connection between humans and smartphones more so than ever before. These technologies allow creative exercises in agency assertion, yet at the same time limit our experience through the codification of human action. Ben Lyall investigates the values and meaning behind self-tracking data, questioning why people record it in the very first place.
Emojis satisfy our need for short, sharp forms of communication, but not before texting in 1992. How did the rise of texting come about, and in what way did it impact youth culture? Can language change in response to the changing dynamics of our technological communication tools?
From an evolutionary perspective the human brain is inherently social. Neural development in babies and young children responds to face-to-face communication with parents. How is this development affected as both child and parent increasingly replace real-world experiences with screen stimulation, and what impact does this have on the way they communicate and feel?
Smartphones allow us to be connected 24/7, to never be unreachable, and have a universe of information and expression at our fingertips. However, this endless engagement does not come for free. With every interaction and every view, there is a physical environmental toll. Immerse yourself in this online artwork to experience these issues first hand.
Do humans push their development forward, or is the societal norms they are immersed in? 24/7: A Wake-Up Call for Our Non-Stop World, is an exhibition which pushes one to think about the conditions of our modern world. As the boundaries between work and leisure blur, and the hours we spend online extends, life becomes increasingly permeated by a sense of hectic rush and nervousness.
An online artwork by Andriana Oborocean exploring our increasingly deep connection with smartphones. Please watch, I must let this video do the talking, it’s truly magical!
It is now argued that online personal data is worth more than the value of oil. The notion that we are being watched is often overlooked as a product of the technologically saturated world we live in. As we accept the terms and conditions of the apps we download, do we realise how much our smartphones reveal about us?
With our social lives, work and endless supply of information in our pockets, smartphones have decreased the importance of place. Does entering an online environment mean that we less present in our physical space? And how does our sense of exploration change when it’s influenced by information online?
We are looking for proposals (essays, reviews, online artworks or other experimental interventions that could work well on our website) that engage with the impact of smartphones upon daily life.
