For various reasons, many aspects of digital media leaves me perplexed as to how much it has altered human behavior and perceptions in the last decade. Silently, unknowingly, these very small changes happening over time led to greater consequences. We can already see the contours of such transformations whether it is in politics, social life, even creativity.
While observing people’s daily routines shaped around digital devices in Bangkok, I kept seeking an essence, an ideal… Questioning where our sense of Beauty resides in today’s world, in people’s minds and perceptions. Whether that sense has been diminished through the excessive use of smartphone technology, and whether it can be restored.
I barely use my phone and averaged 49 minutes per day last week, mostly to read newspapers and take photos. The global average is 3 hours and 50 minutes per day, and it is not uncommon for some young people to use it more than 10 hours per day. How did that become possible?
In the first half of the twentieth century, there were predictions by modern thinkers that humans would become enslaved by the industrial machine. That machine would become so powerful, it would make decisions for us. A machine of productivity and profit that would bury the most beautiful, simple things in our world. Distorting realities. Blinding people.
In this moment, as I recall the words of luminaries, I am reminded of the importance of artistic creation and vision. To me art does not reside in the objects, the galleries, the trade. It’s in the ability of artists to reveal a dimension of reality through the imaginary. To make things visible. To distill and bring clarity.
Ideals are a necessity in creative and artistic endeavours. And when our hearts are moved through them, there’s a process of realization.
We look at the world and can see the world.
