With the rise of technology to help us communicate, we have reached a point where hearing someone's voice is no longer necessary to say the immediate. It puts an emphasis on the importance of reading non-verbal cues -- whether via text message, IM, or calls not made.
But, should we be pleased about this? 15 years ago, whoever would have had the advanced-right-brained-capacity to know that "idk my bff jill" carried the emotional weight of "whatever mom, my best friend Jill is way cooler than you"? Teens are reported to send an exorbitant amount of texts and a recent New York Magazine article questioned whether all of these constant distractions were turning us into over-stimulated message-sending zombies.
How does instant communication relate to the Jen Bekman Gallery, you ask? Well, 20x200 artist and Spring 2007 Hot Shot Kelly Shimoda has taken up a new project all about texting called, I guess you don't want to talk to me anymore.
I'll try. it's a little lonely tonight though., 2008 by Kelly Shimoda
I like to think of this new series as the artistic sister spawned from texts from last night, a website that allows us to peer into the the inner soul of the late-night text-messager while they reveal their at-times hilarious, at-times contemplative, and often non-sequitur thoughts. Texts are off-the-cuff, an instant response, and a quick reaction to what is going on as conveyed to you. Each text is loaded with content all condensed down into a few words. As I look at Kelly's work I feel like a fly on the wall trying to imagine just who the senders and receivers of these messages are. Kelly transforms these messages into portraits, so not only are you now the recipient of the message, but also a viewer able to create your own mental image of what scenario and which person is behind the screen of that Nokia or Blackberry.
Kelly's images translate these feelings for us and give them a sort of materiality, a weight that indicates each message was sent with intent from one person to another because it appears on the physical screen of the chosen mobile phone. Looking at the whole series, each photograph feels like a secret discovery; I can't wait to see what Kelly finds next.
Work from this series appears in Summer Reading, which is on view now through August 22nd. See more work from the show here and take a look at Kelly's ongoing project here.
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