On my “phone” is a cartoonized depiction of me standing armpit deep in a box of lo mein.
It’s absurd. And hilarious. To me.
I’m holding a huge set of chopsticks with my left arm. At the very same time, I’m licking my lips, effortlessly. Send this to a friend as a response to a text message asking “What you up to?” Or, try a pre-emptive strike. Drop it in their lap.
This is communication in 2018. We’re using visual art to speak for us in our moment to moment interactions. This is very cool. It’s entertaining, too. It’s like a new vocabulary has been discovered. But it’s really more like invention as something is being created in a customized way and then applied intelligently to suggest any number of meanings. We’re curating our communication in ways previously unrealistic.
And it’s definitely art.
Take video for example. What does it take to produce a video? Not much. Have a phone? You’ve got a camera and all the software you need to shoot, edit and upload for potentially millions and more. This changes the way we communicate. This is increased power in the hands of us peasants. Which is a good thing. Most of the time. We’ve amplified our hearts and our minds. We’ve amplified some of our less desirable tendencies as well. Which is to be expected. Humans are involved after all.
Still, it’s a remarkable time to be alive.
And we have the personalized cartoon messages to prove it.
