Liking, posting, sharing, checking your pulse, counting calories, taking a note, reading the daily motivational slogan, doing your finances, snapping a photo and talking briefly and clearly in modern hieroglyphics, then skimming your favourite book, listening to a bit of music and, finally, spending hours on end being bombarded with holiday photos and food pics, funny videos and animal pictures of friends and family. Quite normal! – Or is it?
What not so long ago required countless devices, notepads and interaction with other people, nowadays all we need are the slick, palm-friendly, glossy and ultra-technological gizmos to sup- port us in all aspects of life: The smartphone is always ready and has a firm grip on all our daily needs.
What was often hailed as a blessing, an extension of our ego, also quickly became an addiction. The endless notifications, being constantly reachable and the excessive self-promotion on count- less social media platforms can become a serious problem. What’s worse, for many people, life without a smartphone is simply no longer feasible. We are already practically fused with our be- loved pocket computers and are, to some extent, helpless creatures without them. When was the last time you did NOT Google the facts in a discussion among friends?
How the smartphone influences our daily behaviour and the heartfelt relationship with this techni- cal device is what the bachelor students of the Media & Interaction Design programme at E- CAL/University of Art and Design Lausanne are exploring in the Fantastic Smartphones exhibition. From 7 to 21 October, the exhibition is on show at HEK and presents humorous, critical and ironic interactive projects and installations that illuminate the excessive use of these devices. It takes a nuanced look at a society that has become hooked on one object: the “smart” phone. Is this ob- ject, originally praised as an enhancement, still a source of pleasure or has it become a source of alienation?
The students’ immersive and interactive installations let us visualise the time lost without our phones; intriguingly scroll into infinity; discover what really happens in the cloud; or watch the strange choreography of a robotic arm taking self-absorbed photos of itself with a selfie stick.
Let’s put our smartphones away for a few minutes so we can experience and learn something new at the exhibition. All this (and more) without first having to google technical terms or read complicated descriptions. Fantastic Smartphones invites everyone to get to know our beloved smartphone a little better and to put it aside, at least for the visit to the exhibition.
For those who would like to read up a little, there is an interactive brochure published by ECAL to accompany the exhibition. Further information can be found at hek.ch and ecal.ch.
Exhibition
From 7 to 21 October, the exhibition is on show at HEK and presents humorous, critical and ironic interactive projects and installations that illuminate the excesses of our use of the devices. It takes a differentiated look at a society that has become addicted to one object: the “smart” phone. Is this object, originally praised as an enhancement, still a source of pleasure or has it become a source of alienation?
The exhibition opening will take place on the 06.10.2022 at 19:00 in the presence of the students and the project leaders Vincent Jacquier & Pauline Saglio.
Information:
HEK (House of Electronic Arts) Freilager-Platz 9, 4142 Münchenstein/Basel.
Opening hours: Wed-Sun, 12:00-18:00
Free admission to the exhibition Fantastic Smartphones
Admission to the regular exhibition: 9 / 6 CHF (reduced), Wed-Fri 12:00-13:00 Happy Hour (free admission to the exhibition)
Exhibition tour: Every Sunday at 15:00 in German
www.hek.ch