太在線？(Too online?)

Being online is a big part of our life. The average person is spending hours on social media each day, even more actively online, even more staring at screens.

While there are all kinds of smart think-pieces, essays, and books about the societal consequences of this, I think that when it comes to our own life, art is the more powerful way to engage with these issues. Like this installation at Pier 2 in Kaohsiung (高雄市) – a wonderful area to stroll around!

It’s a nice piece to remind us of our smartphone use (as if that was necessary!), but its strength lies in allowing us to address it ironically, in a fun way, “performative” if you want so. There is a clear invitation to sit down next to the lady on the left, to interact with her (and be it by ignoring her), to take a picture of doing that. And thus, on another level, the art piece about using smartphones creates a reason to stop using them, to think while using them (of course to use them to capture all that!), and again to talk about it.

What fun!