Amsterdam-based Singaporean multi-disciplinary artist Jomel has created a photography installation titled Birth of the screen, the obscura and the multi-touch to invite people to reevaluate their intimacy and dependence on their phones. Each photograph piece in the series is given a rough 3-D metal frame shaped like the simple outline of a house. This imagery further alludes to the intimacy that one has with their phones, as Jomel views that they live and interact with them as much as one would with a loved one, a roommate or a family member. The consequences of such closeness have proven to be both positive and negative, all of which aspects that each photograph asks viewers to evaluate. This is why the Birth of the screen, the obscura and the multi-touch by Jomel is relevant to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals of Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure.
Each photograph features a feminine presenting person interacting with their phone. Certain photographs can look quite comical, such as one where a person has placed their phone on their face with their hands floating above it. This photograph was set up as if they were using their phone and had dropped it on their face. A human hand is also shown on the phone’s screen as if attempting to break out of the phone’s grasp.
In all of the photographs, human body parts are shown on the phone’s screens, highlighting how phones are mediators for people to connect with others, albeit in fragments. These symbolize how phones allow for digital human interactions that cannot replace the wholeness of physical human connections. In this particular piece, this has caused the person to drop their phone on their face, a moment of silliness that is also quite painful. The act symbolizes the often silly miscommunications that people have while texting that can cause real mental and psychological anguish. The American National Library of Medicine (NLM) has found that relying heavily on smartphone-mediated communication has caused social isolation, depression and stress.
The series’ title alludes to one particular photograph where the person is holding their phone in front of their crotch and an entire other person can be found curled up on the phone’s screen. This brings to mind Gustave Courbet’s L’Origine du Monde (The Origin of the World), the 1866 painting that was deemed scandalous during its time as it portrayed a realistic naked female crotch. At the time, Courbet’s painting carried feminist messages, emphasizing the need to empower women as they have birthed the entire world’s human population. In Birth of the screen, the obscura and the multi-touch, Jomel has appropriated this painting and shifted its message to instead ask viewers to prioritize rethinking their relationships with their phones, as it is another human creation that is as flawed as the human condition itself.
Jomel's Birth of the screen, the obscura and the multi-touch is a thought-provoking exploration of humanity's intimacy with smartphones, highlighting both their connective potential and their limitations. Through surreal imagery and poignant symbolism, the series encourages viewers to reflect on how phones mediate relationships, often at the cost of physical and emotional depth. By referencing art history and depicting moments of humour and pain, Jomel underscores the complexities of this dependence, urging audiences to reconsider their digital habits and their impact on their mental well-being. The work challenges everyone to innovate more mindful relationships with technology in a rapidly digitizing world.
Find out more about Birth of the screen, the obscura and the multi-touch and other pieces by Jomel on her Instagram @j2mel002.