Immersive Distractions

My work addresses the conflict between interactive devices, such as the heavy use of social media on smart devices like iPhones and iPads. I consider these digital interfaces, which are mainly accessed through applications designed to stimulate us due to their addictive characteristics. The work is meant to create tension between these devices and a large image of a tree. This dynamic allows me to engage with my audience and serves as a visual challenge for us to confront.

The ‘tree’ photo symbolically represents the true nature we crave, a nature that escapes the short videos and fast-paced technology of our era. Yet, to reach that nature, we first have to pass through screens set up on stands, designed to better cater to the audience. Visual technologies shape our image of the world and frame our perspectives, influencing how we think about the real world. They have infiltrated our daily lives and are controlling us.

My installation is an interactive way to engage my audience, highlighting the distraction most of us encounter today, looking at our phones instead of engaging with daily life. The blame is often placed on us, but the device's stimulation makes it almost impossible to ignore. In my installation, viewers can experience this difficulty, trying to focus on the large background photograph of a “beautiful tree” while navigating the loud, short TikTok reels displayed on the devices in front of them. Although tablets and phones are physically much smaller than the background image, they hold all the power in the space.

We all know that technological development continues. As it makes our lives more convenient, the stimuli it produces will only increase. The only thing we can do is adapt to technology while learning to detach ourselves from its overstimulating effects and find beauty in life's simpler aspects. I will continue to explore these topics and use art to help people experience and appreciate life.