“I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interaction.
The world will have a generation of idiots”.
- Albert Einstein
The world will have a generation of idiots”.
- Albert Einstein
Through my artistic process of drawing and painting I would like to express my concerns about our loss of connection with the natural world. I question how the new developments of technology and increasing use of social media have distracted us from the real world, real connections and real interactions with each other and the surrounding environment. During the Industrial Revolution with the increasing use of new technologies, many people feared the loss of what makes us human; the connection, the interest, and the physical interactions with our environment. Devices such as “iPhones and Blackberries invite (demand!) constant use” and “...invite reaction rather than reflection” (Watson 161). Rather than to imagine - we search, rather than to see - we capture, rather than to listen - we explain. An example of this would be when somebody stumbles upon a beautiful flower or an ideal landscape and immediately take out their phone to snap a photograph or to share on social media. Rather than to just observe and reflect upon, one is drawn to document and obliterate the timelessness of such beauty found within nature. Notions such as this, in which technology effects the way we create and experience the world around us highly influence my work.
I am deeply engaged with the natural world, that being to me, nature and the simple beauty that the Earth provides for us. Flowers, colour, energy, growth, death and decay are just a few choice words which evoke passion in the work that I do. I have always been interested in the detail in things, and grew up with an overwhelming curiosity for the vast world of creatures and life that stood just outside the front door. I spent the majority of my youth literally outside, spending most nights sleeping on the sundeck, and most days wandering down the old railroad behind my house; collecting plants, catching snakes and soaking up the sun and fresh air. Unfortunatly, this is no longer the case for most youth, nor an experience we continue to enjoy.
Technology, in the forms of cellphones, social media, cameras etc. have come between our experience with the environment as a type of “window” or filter to which it can be enjoyed. No longer is the blooming rose a fleeting moment in time, but rather needs to be captured, held on to, and remembered through a man-made medium in order to be fully enjoyed. The “...cellphone can be a victim of its own success, a target of ire due to the expectations it raises" (Levinson 164). By being accustomed to such an exaggerated and hyped up experience of the natural world through such technology, we risk becoming unimpressed or disengaged by what it actually has to offer. I wish to expose those meaningless habits of seeing our world through technology to show just how harmful they can be to our attachment and connection with the environment.
In Peter Callesen's work, he has chosen to use white A4 paper, which in his words is “...probably the most common and consumed media used for carrying information today” (Callesen n.p.). Similar to my Memorial of Efflorescence (2014) paper sculpture series, Callesen's The Roots of Heaven (2009), has chosen a medium void of colour. By doing so, the focus is emphasized to the forms, context and intricate details within the work. With both Callesen's and my own work I find that by using a relatively blank medium, as well as having a more focused, single-object oriented works helps to remove the viewer from the chaos and overly cluttered technology centred world we've become accustomed to. This process is important to me because seeing, experiencing, and appreciating those moments of simplicity, solitude, and purity reflect a similar experience the natural world has to offer to which we are becoming disconnecting from.
My work emphasizes particular aspects the natural world which I found beautiful and am drawn towards; the colours, textures, and forms in particular. All of these aspects are filtered in some way to represent the invasive characteristics technology has on our view of the world. Sensory engagement is important in my work because through technology, sight, sound, smell, or touch can be altered or diminished entirely from a persons experience, where as I wish to reconnect those senses. I hope to alter the romance between art and technology, and the environment and cyber space, in that we become more aware of the dangers, phenomenons, and absences it has created in our lives versus the accessibility and convenience such technologies have provided for us. Does technology hinder what makes us human and our connection with the Earth? Or will it help us develop, understand and appreciate the world better? I believe that to see the beauty in the natural world we must observe, reflect, and appreciate it with our own eyes, our own senses, and in our own place in time.
I am deeply engaged with the natural world, that being to me, nature and the simple beauty that the Earth provides for us. Flowers, colour, energy, growth, death and decay are just a few choice words which evoke passion in the work that I do. I have always been interested in the detail in things, and grew up with an overwhelming curiosity for the vast world of creatures and life that stood just outside the front door. I spent the majority of my youth literally outside, spending most nights sleeping on the sundeck, and most days wandering down the old railroad behind my house; collecting plants, catching snakes and soaking up the sun and fresh air. Unfortunatly, this is no longer the case for most youth, nor an experience we continue to enjoy.
Technology, in the forms of cellphones, social media, cameras etc. have come between our experience with the environment as a type of “window” or filter to which it can be enjoyed. No longer is the blooming rose a fleeting moment in time, but rather needs to be captured, held on to, and remembered through a man-made medium in order to be fully enjoyed. The “...cellphone can be a victim of its own success, a target of ire due to the expectations it raises" (Levinson 164). By being accustomed to such an exaggerated and hyped up experience of the natural world through such technology, we risk becoming unimpressed or disengaged by what it actually has to offer. I wish to expose those meaningless habits of seeing our world through technology to show just how harmful they can be to our attachment and connection with the environment.
In Peter Callesen's work, he has chosen to use white A4 paper, which in his words is “...probably the most common and consumed media used for carrying information today” (Callesen n.p.). Similar to my Memorial of Efflorescence (2014) paper sculpture series, Callesen's The Roots of Heaven (2009), has chosen a medium void of colour. By doing so, the focus is emphasized to the forms, context and intricate details within the work. With both Callesen's and my own work I find that by using a relatively blank medium, as well as having a more focused, single-object oriented works helps to remove the viewer from the chaos and overly cluttered technology centred world we've become accustomed to. This process is important to me because seeing, experiencing, and appreciating those moments of simplicity, solitude, and purity reflect a similar experience the natural world has to offer to which we are becoming disconnecting from.
My work emphasizes particular aspects the natural world which I found beautiful and am drawn towards; the colours, textures, and forms in particular. All of these aspects are filtered in some way to represent the invasive characteristics technology has on our view of the world. Sensory engagement is important in my work because through technology, sight, sound, smell, or touch can be altered or diminished entirely from a persons experience, where as I wish to reconnect those senses. I hope to alter the romance between art and technology, and the environment and cyber space, in that we become more aware of the dangers, phenomenons, and absences it has created in our lives versus the accessibility and convenience such technologies have provided for us. Does technology hinder what makes us human and our connection with the Earth? Or will it help us develop, understand and appreciate the world better? I believe that to see the beauty in the natural world we must observe, reflect, and appreciate it with our own eyes, our own senses, and in our own place in time.
Works Cited:
Björn Oskar Jönsson. Peter Callesen. Indexhibit. n.d., Web. April 9. 2014. <http://www.petercallesen.com/home/>.
Levinson, Paul. "Cellphone: The Story of the World's Most Mobile Medium and How It Has Transformed Everything!" Paigrave Macmillan., April. 2004. Web. April. 2014.
Watson, Richard. Future Minds: how the digital age is changing our minds, why this matters, and what we can do about it. London: Nicholas Brealey Pub., 2010. Print.
Levinson, Paul. "Cellphone: The Story of the World's Most Mobile Medium and How It Has Transformed Everything!" Paigrave Macmillan., April. 2004. Web. April. 2014.
Watson, Richard. Future Minds: how the digital age is changing our minds, why this matters, and what we can do about it. London: Nicholas Brealey Pub., 2010. Print.