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| Art Meats Technology - Mads Peitersen, "The Anatomy of Gadgets" series, 2012 |
After much difficulty in coming up with a
question for this module based on one of the 5 themes: Culture, Society,
Politics, Technology and History, I have decided to develop an essay based on
the theme of Technology and its effects on society today. I would like to also
explore the effects of technology on the art industry and how this has helped
and/or hindered the evolution of the arts in recent history.
The image I have chosen to analyse centers
around society and the effects technology is having on us in our everyday
lives. The artist, Mads Peitersen, is a Danish conceptual artist and has created
a very cleaver series of works on ‘Gadget Anatomy’. This piece I have chosen is
called “Art meats technology” and is clearly showcasing our subconscious habit of
becoming personally attached to everyday technology, in many cases treating
these inanimate objects as if they were living breathing organisms. This piece of work has been painted and edited with digital software. Some pieces within the series have been commissioned by the manufacturer in question such as Apple, Nintendo, PS3 and Xbox, however to complete the series Peiterson has painted most of the images for fun and an exploration of what I think to be quite a unique idea.
The image itself depicts something organic
within a cold hard inanimate shell. It is simple yet really accurate and
familiar and the use of dull and metallic colours to represent the outside of
the gadget as we usually see them contrasts greatly to the vibrant “living”
colours we see used for the inner organs and tissue matter. The organic workings of the anatomy has cleverly been thought out by Peitersen and linked to the specific
functions of the gadget. For instance, the buttons are linked to the inner
nerve endings and moving parts are linked to muscle and bone. Each floating app
has effectively been visually wired up to its respective organ, suggesting that
the phone is indeed alive and feels / uses its own organs just like we do. Humanising an in-human object in this way makes clear how easy it is for
us to have these subconscious and sentimental relationships with our property and
what they mean to us.
Although I think Peitersen created this
piece in humour and almost a homage to his love of technology and how “advanced
and cool” gadgets are today, I think there is also a serious message within the
work. Technology is advancing every second; a ball that has been rolling for
years and doesn’t look like it will be stopping anytime soon. With this comes
the harsh reality that it is hard to imagine life without that mobile phone in
your pocket or life without the internet and google on your laptop or tablet.
Gadgets are increasing in their intelligence daily, learning to work with our
consciousness creating new applications specifically designed to improve the
very senses we were born with. Life has been made easier and is now full of
cheats, the world has been made smaller and more accessible and it is because
of this that I feel we treat certain items as almost an extension of our own
living body. To a very large extent we now rely on technology for the very
basics of living, to meet new people, expand our knowledge and simply
communicate with the world and everyone in it around us. New technology and its
progression goes hand in hand with our consumer society and the obsessive need
to keep up with trends and have the very best, latest and newest thing. Its what
keeps this ball rolling.
I chose this image as I feel it really
helps portray a current and very relevant issue and side to technology within society
today and how its growth and progression is becoming more and more lifelike and
organic and more of an extension of ourselves than just inanimate objects. This
image (and the others Peitersen has created within “The Anatomy of Gadgets”
series) are so striking in their boldness, accuracy and simplicity that I feel
it forces us to ask the question of how we personally treat technology and these
inanimate objects in our own lives. How the use of gadgets and the
relationships we build with them are ultimately shaping our living experiences in this
“Technological Age” and how they are becoming an extension of who we are.