LIMBUS (2016)

We move about our world half in it and half out of it. We meet and greet those in front of us, but we are only partially present. We are also connected to those far-flung from us – those who beckon from our pockets, purses, backpacks. I might laugh at your joke and then look down at my phone to text my old friend back. Split between two worlds, the digital becomes the axis that we center our understanding of how to navigate around.

“Limitas” is an experiment that invites the public into a space for the physical only. Upon entering the threshold, an attendant will take your phone and place it into a Plexiglas cubicle set inside a tower. We can see our phones as if they were pets in a cage, but we can shut out their chirps and calls – even if only for a minute. The public is then invited to enter a room with low lighting, soft sounds and bean–bag chairs. The idea is to step outside of the constant stream of data and engagements and to experience the pure physical moment.

This installation is an existential experiment that tries to better understand of what it means to filter our experience through the digital. How are we affected by the presence and the absence of our phones? How do we perceive the world around us with or without our phones? Does some remove from them highlight their cultural influence? Do we connect more with others in a similar plight?

Link to project proposal here.