Internal Monologue or Diatribe?
Online and Streaming. I am happening!
How lucky we are, that we, as 21st Century citizens are able to ”transcend the constraints of place and time”. At the touch of a button, the flash of an alert, we can be off, far away, in cyberspace, in the gallery and out of touch with those who surround us.
Most of us are able to acknowledge that people, most people, are becoming over-involved with their screens. Check out any queue, public transport, in-between moments, any time that virtual social interaction can take place. How many are preoccupied electronically, even when in the company of friends or colleagues? Go to cafes, parks, restaurants and snap the number of parents who are more attentive to their devices than to their children. It’s 2:30 AM and the light is still on in my daughter’s bedroom. I’m focused on my screen and can monitor my offspring’s addiction to the screen in real-time. What is she doing in there? Is she looking at art?
The thoroughly modern me has come to believe that virtual reality, “out there” is without doubt more interesting than the mundane here-and-now. Is this me or society suffering collective breakdown? Our screens are effectively doorways to places where exciting information and stirring imagery spills forth. Why bother going to the Actual gallery? I’ll fly by the seat of my sofa and check out the one in that country that’s all the artrage right now instead.
Online, we control the pattern and pace of our involvement in art. We can declare, instantly it’s time to finish and move on to other, possibly more interesting concerns. How to crochet an easel! How to resin everything! I shall buy that print of a robin from that small trader I follow on Insta. I’m fed up with targeted adverts from sponsored artists. Delete delete delete. Busy, busy lives have to be managed. Screen time helps maintain the semblance of order whilst at the same time sucking us into an ever branching, infinite tunnel of misinformation, fake news, disturbing visuals, and FOMO! What’s the latest trend, who liked my post and and and and and oooh, a text! OMG, I just responded to a text and found myself 20 minutes later on Instagram.
Note to Selfie, “stay focused”, you may slip past facial recognition and steal a seat on this year’s seminar group.