So this is where it all began
Flashback to the early 90's. Sitting in my living room eating Trix Cereal and watching "Saved by the Bell." Mid class, Zack Morris pulls out this BOX from his back pocket and answers it.
Zack Morris is my first recollection of a cell phone. Zack and his "mobile" phone, even though it was the size of a 6 foot 7 army man's combat boot, generated a frenzy.
Flash forward.
it's 2011. I can guarantee everyone in this class room has a cellphone that is within reach. I find myself checking it for a text message even while writing this post. Constantly checking it. My cell phone is actually an extension of my hand, if you didn't know. Email, Social networking,GOOGLE. Anything I want at the touch of a button. We are SO reliant on cell phones,ipods, ipads, iANYTHING. A day without a cellphone for a 20something college student is like living without food. Or so we think.
Flashback again to the days where you had I mom call my best friend's mom on the house phone to ask if she could come out to play because I was too scared of the phone.
Flash forward.
I spend hours a day texting/calling my best friends.
I call my mom once a week.
We are so dependent on this piece of plastic to keep in contact with people.
but now, phones not only call and text, they are capable of scanning, taking photos, GPS, etc.
If you have a smart phone, or any phone that is able to download "apps", this little block of black shapes can take you almost anywhere on the World Wide Web. It could bring you to an artists website, someone's contact information, a video, a product's information, ANYTHING. With just one scan, your phone can now take you above and beyond anything you ever imagined.
This generator, and our obsession with cell phones, is my inspiration for our semester project. For about a month i have been dabbling with the idea of how I could incorporate this image in my work.
I am most passionate when i work in the studio. If i can not control my light, i feel uneasy. for this semester I would like to do a series of portraits that will have this QR generator over a part of each photo, making it unreadable unless you scan the code with a smart phone. For every photo i will generate a new code.
this project is to show how a part of us (not ALL of us, but mostly all of us) are so very attached to being connected constantly and our phones are a part of us.
Think of these codes and the missing pieces of these portraits as this is what people see. People see us with our devices, our smart phones, iphones, i pads, lap top computers, etc. We are technology. When people look at each other we judge constantly, we look at hair, clothes, shoes, cell phone, lap top brand (what? you go to art school and you don't use a mac? shun shun shun.. yes i did hear that in the days that i was rollin' with a gateway computer)
So basically, in a nutshell, this project that I plan on doing is to show the connection between us and our wireless devices. Without them, we feel like there is a missing piece. I will show that with these photos. The QR code, the missing piece, can only be viewed with a cell phone.
(the completed photos will also be up on my blog for those who do not have the access to a smart phone.)
