PHENUMA is an art installation exploring the phenomenon of visual culture and aesthetics in the mobile era. It is part of my doctoral research on Polish-Japanese Academy of Computer Technology in Warsaw at the Faculty of New Media Art, under the supervision of Professor Ewa Satalecka. The title is a combination of the Greek words “phenomenon” and „numa” (divine spirit), which reflects the main theme of the presented artworks: a visual reflection on the essence of images in the era of mobile technologies, their unique language and aesthetics. The installation includes multimedia such as digital graphics, collage and video installation. It is inspired by mobile interfaces and mobile-specific interactions, and also refers to theoretical considerations about the specificity of the medium, including medium theory and the concept of image, screen, and interface as a mirror. The goal is to prompt reflection on the impact of mobile technologies on the reception of art and perception of reality.
Phenuma — art installation
Theoretical background
PHENUMA summarazies five years of research into visuality in the mobile era—encompassing netnography, observations, comparative analyses, in-depth interviews, and review of relevant publications [1]-[7], along with engaging in the creative process as a form of research. As a result, the following multifaceted, intersecting features of mobile-specific multimedia have been identified:
- Mobility is undoubtedly a key characteristic. The artworks not only move with the user but are also created, processed, and distributed through hand and finger movements, intertwined with device sensors like gyroscopes or accelerators that can simulate gravity.
- Instantaneity is another defining feature, with mobile devices’ constant „readiness” allowing for spontaneous, immediate access to and creation of the artwork, including app art.
- Embodiment in mobile-specific art is significant compared to Internet art or digital art. Mobile-based artworks are multimodal, engaging all senses, including proprioception and touch, mediated only by the screen surface. They are often created based on body movement and the use of built-in sensors.
- Adaptability is highlighted by mobile sensors, allowing artworks to adjust to environmental conditions like lighting and perspective, enhancing the authenticity of spatial illusions.
- Permeability — due to minimal framing and built-in sensors, mobile artworks are permeabilized, creating the illusion of blending digital content seamlessly with physical space, enhancing immersion and telepresence.
- Ubiquity is reflected in the widespread availability and use of mobile devices, which makes multimedia content including app art accessible at all times — and everywhere.
- Ephemerality is also more visible in mobile-specific artworks, emphasizing the transient nature of these particular digital creations.
- Hyperbolization is typically used in mobile-specific creations, such as filters, masks, or multimodal experiences, that enhance some aspects of the physical world.
The identified mobile aesthetic’s characteristics should not only coexist among themselves but also align with the traits of new or digital media as established in the seminal works of de Kerckhove, W.J. Mitchell, Weibel, Paul, Manovich, and Belting [8]-[13]. These encompass scalability, modularity, numerical representation, transcoding, flexibility, automation, reproducibility, hybridity, virtuality, generativity, interconnectivity, and various other dynamic qualities. Bridging these traits with the medium specificity perspective, which emerged in the mid-20th century at the confluence of art theory and film studies, provided a robust framework for analyzing the collected data. This analytical lens, notably advanced by Marshall McLuhan’s medium theory [14], allowed for a nuanced understanding of how mobile aesthetics integrates and extends established digital media characteristics.
References
[1] M. Halpern and L. Humphreys, „iPhoneography as an emergent art world,” Sage Journal, 2014. [Online]. Available: https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448145386
[2] L. Manovich et al., „Investigating the Style of Self-Portraits (Selfies) in Five Cities Across the World,” 2014. [Online]. Available: http://www.selfiecity.net
[3] L. Manovich, “Instagram and contemporary image,” 2015. [Online]. Available: http://manovich.net/index.php/projects/instagram-and-contemporary-image
[4] E. A. Sheffer, „Examination of an internet copy machine,” @INSTA_REPEAT, 2018. [Online]. Available: https://emmasheffer.com/index.php/curations/curations/
[5] E. Serafinelli, Digital Life on Instagram: New Social Communication of Photography, Emerald Publishing Limited, 2018.
[6] T. Leaver, T. Highfield, and C. Abidin, Instagram: Visual Social Media Cultures, Cambridge, UK: Polity Press, 2019.
[7] P. X. Nguyen et al., „The Open World of Micro-Videos,” arXiv:1603.09439v2 [cs.CV], Apr. 1, 2016.
[8] D. De Kerckhove, „The Digital Imperative,” 1996. [Online]. Available: https://v2.nl/archive/articles/the-digital-imperative
[9] W. J. T. Mitchell, Image Science: Iconology, Visual Culture, and Media Aesthetics, Chicago, IL, USA: University of Chicago Press, 2015.
[10] P. Weibel, „On the History and Aesthetics of the Digital Image,” in Ars Electronica 84, 1999.
[11] L. Manovich, The Language of New Media, Cambridge, MA, USA: The MIT Press, 2001.
[12] C. Paul, Digital Art, London, UK: Thames & Hudson, 2003.
[13] H. Belting, “Image, Medium, Body: A New Approach to Iconology,” Critical Inquiry, vol. 31, no. 2, pp. 302-319, Winter 2005.
[14] M. McLuhan, “Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man”, New York, NY, USA: McGraw-Hill, 1964.
