Rerouting (2019)
Alto Gallery — Denver, CO
Parlor scope, personal objects
The images inside the parlor scope serve as a visual metaphor for my habitual overuse of a smartphone: fragmented thought patterns, a limited attention span, and abbreviated focus. Here, I have gathered personal items from my childhood and teenage years that have been singularly replaced by this piece of technology.
The smartphone is a revolutionary tool, and it is not inherently harmful. However, I believe that my increased use/dependency over the years has created negative habits in my life. Compulsive checking and switching tasks has prevented me from entering states of deep creative flow and focus. I often catch myself staring at the blank screen like a dopamine-releasing oracle, using it as a crutch in social situations when I feel overwhelmed, bored, awkward and filing any amount of downtime in the day with its blue light.
For the duration of this show, I hope to reroute my neural pathways by taking a technology fast from this device -- carefully observing the cost of its convenience and how my habits change without obsessive use.
