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Reflection. Modern technology - Forming of modernity?

Updated: Jan 18, 2021

Artist approach



Masha, 2020, acrylic, oil pastel, watercolour, wallpaint on canvas, 100 x 100 x 4 cm.


New media are shaping a new model of our perception.


Firstly, only one device - the telephone - has become an irreplaceable object. The thing through which I see the world and loved ones.


Secondly, such frequent use of a smartphone, as it were, turns into a part of us, it is an integral part of my body.



Thirdly, more often I hold my phone in my hands than a loved one - the hormone of happiness is not produced.

Fourthly, this is an irreplaceable device that opens up a lot of possibilities, it is the potential to see things, colours, emotions that previously had to be obtained through labour and a long search.

Fifth, in social networks I am impersonal, I play a role, this is not my true self. As a rule, I am happy and positive on the Internet, and negative feelings are hidden, they remain with my true self.


Leo, 2018, varnishes, acrylic, golden colour on plywood, 122 x 60 x 4.5 cm.


The main focus is on hands, gestures and posture. Hands are deformed from the long use of the phone. Gestures and postures represent behaviour with a mobile phone, this is

• a posing to take pictures of yourself

• or filming, observing others

• or communication through the phone, information retrieval.



At the same time, the faces are closed, they simply do not exist. They are not important.

On the one hand, a man is posing, but on the other, he is watching us.




Kazimir Malevich, Black Square, 1915, oil on linen, 79.5 x 79.5 cm, Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow. [Painting] At: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Square_(painting)#/media/File:Kazimir_Malevich,_1915,_Black_Suprematic_Square,_oil_on_linen_canvas,_79.5_x_79.5_cm,_Tretyakov_Gallery,_Moscow.jpg (Accessed 18.01.2021)



It's like Malevich's Black Square, only the difference is that the phone got between the viewer and the image at work. As if everything is clear, but it hides the main part of the person, the essence.


Selfie, 2020, oil pastel, acrylic, varnishes on plywood , 3 x (130 x 34) cm.


It doesn't matter who is in front of us, today it is me, tomorrow it is my friend.


David by Michelangelo, Florence, Galleria dell'Accademia, 1501-1504 [Sculpture] At: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_(Michelangelo)#/media/File:'David'_by_Michelangelo_Fir_JBU002.jpg (Accessed 18.01.2021)


This is a clear example of how technology is changing our behaviour. Remembering David Michelangelo, we note his grace and strength just before the fight. The sculptor created the symbol of the epoch.


Selfie, 2020, acrylic, oil, oil pastel, watercolour on canvas, 160 x 80 x 3 cm.


In our situation, firstly, we ourselves (not someone else) choose what to demonstrate and what to hide, the beauty of our posture, body or our expensive villa. But social networking services monitor censorship, therefore, firstly, you most likely will not see a naked body, thus the "breath of our time" body is closed. Secondly, probably arising from the point above, since we cannot always bare our body, then we expose our life and surrounds.


Such a kind of "home exhibitionism". I exaggerate the surrounding to create shock and excitement.


Untitled, 2020, mixed media on canvas with object, 100 х 120 х 4 cm.


It turns out that the ideology has been stimulated by mobile phone and the ability of everyone to make a Photo. Chosen at our discretion elements of everyday life, form the opinion of the hero through the context. Thus, the image of the narrator himself is formed.


What has changed with the advent of a mobile phone equipped with the Internet and a camera?

1. Access to social networks at any time - fast dissemination of information

2. Communication with any place in the world and person

3. Taking pictures of everything and everyone

4. Access to free education, books, sports

And how did this affect our consciousness and perception of things?


Distortion of information. Information about an event is now easier to obtain in open networks, but its quality and credibility do not always correspond to reality. It seemed to me that it was obvious for everyone that the photograph of Putin on a bear was a Photoshop, but it turned out that some people do not understand this. Thus, we can say that the line between real things and fiction has blurred. And what is reality and what is fiction is sometimes difficult to understand. Evidence is lacking, or may even suggest otherwise.



RBC, Putin commented on his photo with the words "I haven't jumped on a bear yet" RBC, Путин прокомментировал свое фото словами «на медведе пока не скакал» [Photography] At: https://www.rbc.ru/rbcfreenews/5aa3a5599a79472bcf418f32 (Accessed 26.08.2020)

Availability. People, the same as the information, become visually more open, a sense of accessibility is created. But broadcasting from your apartment or describing in detail your daily life on a blog generates interest in the hidden. It is precisely this hidden motivates for even greater interest.


The culture of forming an ideal frame (photo) and everything that remains outside of this frame often is not a continuation of it.


Untitled, 2020, acrylic, oil, oil pastel, watercolour on canvas, 100 x 120 x 4 cm.



We are controlled. For example: At least one post per day, otherwise you will be dropped from the list of in-demand, mandatory posting of stories, not posting information of a dubious sexual nature, etc. The content specially selected for you.


Focusing on the face and body. With the advent of selfies, a special human look has appeared. This is a kind of Scopic regime through which we look in a new way at our modernity. Individuality is a new trend. Our flaws make us special (this statement need to be analysed further) and trigger interest.


Art in Your Head, 2020, oil, acrylic, watercolour, varnishes on canvas, 100 х 120 х 4 cm.


Opportunities. The presence of money can be hidden or circumvented. It is no longer an obstacle to human well-being. With the Internet, a person can get an acceptable education, learn a language, or see the whole world. Yes, of course, the emotions received through the screen of a computer or phone will be different, but the experience of what he saw and studied will be close to the experience received in reality.


Lack of tactile contact. The 2020 year. Coronavirus. At this point, it became apparent how closely people were connected. We shake hands when we meet and kiss when we say goodbye. We hug our friends and love close, noisy companies. During a global pandemic, all of the above is prohibited. The world has switched to online communication. The tactile contact has become plastic and glass. I am typing this text, touching the plastic buttons, I am talking to my mother and I see her through the glass of my mobile phone. But I haven't hugged her for 9 months.


Portrait of a friend, 2020, acrylic, varnishes on plywood, 75 х 55 х 2 cm.


Why does it bother me? Because the reality is changing and I am witness to this rapid change. My tactile senses diminish.


It should also be noted that true feelings are hidden. A person may have neither education nor a posh home, but he behaves like a celebrity in a rented villa. This is an ethereal soap bubble that plays with colours but does not represent the essence. There is an advertisement for Barbie World in which everything is fiction and a fairy tale.



The more people see it, the more they believe and want to conform because in Barbie Land everyone is happy, successful and healthy. But this is only fiction. In my opinion, such a departure from reality and the formation of canons of beauty and success, form trends in society and unconsciously impose them.











It’s as if there were no happiness, but misfortune helped. I understand that judgments about beauty are deeply subjective and depend on geographic, cultural, historical, gender, age and many other aspects. But I also understand that the beauty that extends on the screens of our mobile phones is such only within this screen. And, unfortunately, this is the first place we look in search of emotions and information. Outside it, ordinary life takes place, which remains hidden, but in my opinion, this is it what is the most interesting and beautiful.

Untitled, 2020, acrylic varnish on canvas, 70 x 50 x 2 cm.


How do I convey this topic on a plane? By what means? For example, texture, different materials, collage convey versatility. The home interior is a person's intimate environment, it is a built and verified composition.


There are no faces since this is not the true face of a person we don't need to see it.

The phone with its black glass cover reflects so we see ourselves, we are part of this work, just like in social networks - without the public, the meaning disappears.

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