The photo above is a link to a recording of my senior project at UCLA, an interpretive dance about my addiction to my cell phone. The project was based on my senior thesis, titled "Talk To The Handsfree," and expanded upon the ways in which long distance relationships affect our short distance relationships with the people around us.
The first ten seconds of the video was a prank played on the audience. After the curtains opened and shortly before the lights went up, I asked all of the performers to whip out their cell phones to check the time or for text messages and missed calls. Sure enough, one of my professors who had sat in the house with the rest of the audience informed me later on that over half the audience had done the same thing and it took them a few moments to look up from their own phones to see that we were mocking them.
The first section of the performance was a joke about the awkwardness of being in such close proximity to other bodies (i.e. when we are in a crowded elevator). My theory was that we have grown quite bad at socializing with neighbors or making new friends quickly because cell phones and wi-fi allow us to take the comfort of our already-made-friends and family with us wherever we go; whereas before these techological developments, we may have been forced to form new relationships. But then again, perhaps I'm wrong, and we've always been awkward with face to face interactions.
The rest of the project comments on our relationships to and through our cell phones, automated voice messaging and automated responses (i.e. "lol" and "omg"), multi-tasking, being in multiple places at once, and so on. I like to leave room for interpretation of course.
1 comment:
I couldn't agree with you more. When it comes to my phone, I check it between classes for text messages and missed calls and I call my family at least once a day. Besides that, though, I couldn't care less about my phone, and I find it funny and simultaneously disturbing that so many people are obsessed with their phones and can't seem to differentiate between reality and technology. I feel that people are more awkward in interacting with people face-to-face, and one of my pet peeves is when someone is having a conversation with you and then they take out their phone and text while you're talking. Also, what's with the "lol" and "rofl" and all of that good stuff? I'm guilty of it too, but what starts out as a casual text carries over into actual conversations, setting a tone that makes interactions more awkward and detached.
By the way, your project sounds fascinating. I'm sure that you had fun!
Post a Comment