SITUATION #102

Standing on the dance floor, two lovers look into each other’s eyes. They begin to spin while everything around them disappears into a blur of colors. In his interactive installation A Truly Magical Moment, Adam Basanta draws on this classic Hollywood scene but shifts it into the age of everyday digital communication. By using two iPhones and FaceTime – a form of communication that has become essential to many couples leading long-distance relationships – pairs of museum visitors can act out this love scene, accompanied by romantic music. Basanta’s work is an ironic commentary on the extent to which our interpersonal relationships are increasingly mediated by digital technologies. People’s ways of life, including love, are becoming more and more intermeshed with technological devices. Instead of communicating with a ‘real’ counterpart, we are increasingly coming face to face with his or her medially transmitted image.

More by Adam Basanta: adambasanta.com

A cooperation with the Link Art Center.

Kindly supported by Art Mentor Foundation Lucerne.