Geiger shows that day by day we are distancing ourselves from the physical world with digital technology in actual presence of other human beings.
What were once thought of as the epitome of mankind’s progress is now slowly leading to its social demise. These are of course advances in digital technology. In this day and age, you are seen as some sort of mythical creature if you are not the owner of a smartphone. What’s more, if it’s not in your possession at all times, sending through signals of life in the cyber stratosphere, you feel lost. It has become an extension of our bodies, a vital limb that we simply can not live without.
In this day and age, you are seen as some sort of mythical creature if you are not the owner of a smartphone. What’s more, if it’s not in your possession at all times, sending through signals of life in the cyber stratosphere, you feel lost. It has become an extension of our bodies, a vital limb that we simply can not live without.
Whilst coming up for air from our machines, Such a concept has been brought to our attention by artist Antoine Geiger. His SUR-FAKE series are a group of digitally altered pictures that depict people going about their everyday lives with their phones glued to their hands. The faces of children, parents, businessmen and tourists appear to be sucked into their devices like a black hole taking in matter, blurring their once visible facial expression.
Such images completely express the artist’s view that we use such devices as a portal to showcase our life as peachy perfect at all times. We glamorize the simplest of tasks with a selfie and a filter, just to gain social approval. This approval is addictive and it’s what we strive for, what we need to feel good about ourselves on a daily basis. It is simply a tap on a screen, a virtual like. Geiger shows that day by day we are distancing ourselves from the physical world and actual presence of other human beings, a sorry state of affairs for social interaction.
