Event Blog 3: Weak Or No Signal


My third event Weak Or No Signal took place in the New White Gallery. The show was a collection of immersive art that concerned a heavy use of the cutting edge technologies. Characterized by its interactive features and the vivid imagery, the exhibition displays a strong theme of postmodern dystopian, where the internet overarches the human culture, challenging the illusion of interconnectedness brought by technology. The wide collection of interactive pieces fits well into John Brockman’s definition of the third culture:

“… one that consists of those scientists and other thinkers in the empirical world who, through their work and expository writing, are taking the place of the traditional intellectual in rendering visible the deeper meanings of our lives, redefining who and what we are”.



The piece named “C(&)A(&)S(&)A(&)” (Spanish for home), created by Eric Fanghanel, is a corner of a minimalistic room. the bleak setup of the furnitures is compensated by a VR headset that hangs from the ceiling. By juxtaposing the enthralling virtual reality experience with the decadent reality, the Arthur questions the society’s proclivity for the artificial worlds by using the VR-centered house as a microcosm to address the human migration to the digital world.


Instead of using technology to enhance art, the artist used the technology to warn against technology itself. The unique approach brings up the question of: “ how do humans preserve their human elements in the course of technology advancement ”. A recent app named Moment times the user’s daily phone usage, and provides a step-by-step guide to reducing phone usage. While the application makes a clear attempt to detach the society from the virtual world, we still have a long way to go when it comes to escaping the gravity of the technological blackhole created by ourselves. (I would definitely recommend others students to attend this event!)



References

Brockman, John. The Third Culture. Touchstone, 2010.
Perez, Sarah. “A New App Called Moment Shows You How Addicted You Are To Your    IPhone.” TechCrunch, TechCrunch, 27 June 2014, techcrunch.com/2014/06/27/a-new-app-called-moment-shows-you-how-addicted-you-are-to-your-iphone/.

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