Re: <nettime> Swipe, a Smart Phone Movie by Mieke Gerritzen/Next Nature

[Brian Holmes via nettime-l <nettime-l@lists.nettime.org>]

Hello Oliver,

Nothing is natural in our culture, for sure - I too paused to question that
sentence.

However the immense changes that this small bit of artificiality has
brought, over a mere 20 years, to our individual and collective
orientations toward the world, really merit a pause for reflection.

I was interested to look further into what is sometimes called the second
nature of technology, but damn, the app failed on my Android phone!
Probably because I haven't updated it in a long time...

Best, Brian


On Mon, Apr 15, 2024, 10:45 Oliver Gassner via nettime-l <
nettime-l@lists.nettime.org> wrote:

> Hi Geert,
>
> > "The average person unlocks their phones 150 times a day, how natural is
> that? "
>
> I am not sure, this questions makes sense at all.
> a) Regarding the fact a smartphone replaces, I don't know, 20 other
> ',machines or media' it might very well make sense
> b) IN the sense that neither books, radios, script, papyrus or print are
> "natural", of COURSE it is not "natural". (but: cultural)
>
> I am not a media theoretician, just some guy who got a (literature and
> linguistics) MA early in the 90ies ;)
>
> Of course looking at the smartphone as a 'cultural carrier' makes sense.
>
> I nowadays usually say:
> "We will all nostalgically look back at the times when people were "still
> staring at their phones" instead of interacting with invisible people on
> their semitransparent glasses."
>
> But this was just a note about the word 'natural': Nothing in our culture
> is.
>
>
>
> Am Fr., 12. Apr. 2024 um 14:36 Uhr schrieb Geert Lovink via nettime-l <
> nettime-l@lists.nettime.org>:
>
> > Swipe, a Smart Phone Movie by Mieke Gerritzen/Next Nature
> > Download the app on your phone: https://nextnature.net/projects/swipe
> >
> > Ever left your phone at home by mistake and felt like you are missing a
> > limb? Turns out, a lot of us feel that way. We need to talk about
> > smartphones. SWIPE is a movie about your phone, on your phone.
> >
> > Research shows that people who are separated from their smartphones can
> > suffer from strong mental effects, and this all happened in less than
> > twenty years. We need to talk about smartphones.
> >
> > The average person unlocks their phones 150 times a day, how natural is
> > that? On a global scale, more than 5 bilion people have access to a
> mobile
> > phone connection, and over half of these are smartphones. And let’s face
> > it: these numbers continue to grow. We are now living in a world where
> more
> > people have access to mobile phones than clean toilets. This fact is
> > equally alarming as significant. It’s a sign of our times. We are living
> in
> > the Phone Age.
> >
> > SWIPE is a typographic movie about you and your smartphone. It celebrates
> > its impact in a playfull manner. Give yourself a break and reflect with
> us
> > on the increasingly fast-paced developments in (communication)
> technology.
> > SWIPE: THE GAME
> >
> > From 1 January 2024, the Dutch government has banned all smartphones from
> > classrooms in the Netherlands, in an attempt to limit distractions during
> > classes. This asks for a training program to guide these kids to
> critically
> > examine their own smartphone use. That's why we designed an analog rehab
> > game for students (12+ years) that looks like a phone, but is actually a
> > deck of cards.
> >
> > This analog rehab game, developed by Next Nature, challenges young
> > students to think in groups about the impact of the smartphone on their
> > lives, today and in the future. Through playful discussion and
> > interactions, they will develop a critical view on the smartphone and
> > perhaps even imagine life after the smartphone.
> >
> > BEING ONLINE 24/7
> >
> > A user manual experience for smartphone users, inspired by the
> "frequently
> > asked questions", this book presents questions about the smartphone that
> > users might (not) have frequently asked themselves. These questions are
> not
> > followed by single sentences, but by image collections consisting of
> > internet-found visuals, so that you can keep enjoying being online 24/7,
> > even when there's no wifi. Order the book here:
> > https://nextnature.net/shop/products/swipe.
> >
> > GRAPHIC NOVEL: THE PHONE AGE
> >
> > A graphic novel to reflect on what it means to co-evolve with
> smartphones.
> > After all, using our hands as a tools to swipe does something to our
> body,
> > having access to millions of sources of knowledge does something to our
> > thinking, and being able to continuously interact with your network does
> > something to our identity and autonomy.
> >
> > More information here: https://nextnature.net/projects/swipe.
> > --
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> # distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission
> # <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism,
> # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets
> # more info: https://www.nettime.org
> # contact: nettime-l-owner@lists.nettime.org
>
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# distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission
# <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism,
# collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets
# more info: https://www.nettime.org
# contact: nettime-l-owner@lists.nettime.org