Cell Phone
Richard Mudariki (b 1985)
Cell Phone - 2016
Oil on board
40 x 30 cm
Signed and dated bottom left
Sold - 2016
This painting comments on our society’s fixation with continuous
connectivity via mobile devises like cell phones. With this
technology at our finger tips, users are able to instantly exchange
messages and stay informed via social media. Contemporary
society has become mesmerized by mobile applications such
as Twitter, Facebook and Whatsapp to the point where this
obsession may be viewed as a disruptive ‘demonic’ force. This
has caused many users’ lives to become insulated to the point
where they are oblivious to what is happening around them. I have
observed this lack of social interaction where people taking the
bus, queuing in a grocery store or sitting at a table in a restaurant
are all engrossed by their phones and not the people they are with.
These technological advances, although aimed at connecting us,
are in many instances leaving us disconnected at another level of
our lives.