Shortly after bringing a reflective “Orb” to the Pyramids of Giza, SpY Studio launches another conceptual installation at the Llum BCN Festival of lights in Barcelona. Titled the “MONOLITH,” the exhibition features a towering rectangular screen that explores humanity’s relationship with screens and data.
“MONOLITH” takes inspiration from the extraterrestrial black cuboid in Stanley Kubrick’s classic film 2001: A Space Odyssey — an unknown object that came into contact with humans to provoke an evolutionary leap in cognitive capacity. The installation draws a link between the monolith in the movie to mobile phone screens and other screens that surround us on a daily basis.
“The screen’s potential for disruptive, emancipatory endeavours and for the circulation of genuine ideas is obscured by a deluge of empty content. We remain stunned by the constant updating of the screen. The screen gives us access to everything, yet keeps us in chains,” writes SpY.
Today, the “magical mirrors” have become so ingrained in our lives that we’ve begun to build our personal identity and modify our notion of reality with them. Through the installation, SpY questions this new norm and the lack of control over our personal data.
“Are we already in the time when humans become data? How will we confront the integration of bodies and devices? Is this the last generation of humans who are not digitally transformed?” SpY asks its visitors.
In other news, Miami Art Fair visitor breaks iconic Jeff Koons balloon dog sculpture.
