Hi List,
I had a curious thing happen to me the other day that was very telling.
I have an old cellphone that I use. It's not networked. I rarely use
it so I use a pay as you go plan.
I buy a thousand minutes for $100 dollars and it lasts a year.
On the day in question, I was returning from a chore and was running
to get to a panel discussion.
I was one of the guest speakers. I had written down the address of
the gallery on a piece of paper that I left on my desk at home.
I also forgot my cellphone. Since I am of a certain age I thought, I
would simply go to a pay phone and call information. Then I realized
there are no more pay phones!
Then I thought, maybe I can ask someone on the street, if they would
call for me, they all had cellphones and were walking down the street
staring at them. Then I thought, no that's too weird.
People wold take offense. Desperate, I thought well maybe if I ask
someone to google the gallery. That was a good plan but It
necessitated me engaging someone on the street. I thought, maybe
there's an internet cafe or someplace I could log on for a moment.
Finally I formulated a plan, I thought if I went to a bar/restaurant
maybe someone would help me. I walked into a bar walked to the back
where there was a dining area and looked for a phone booth. A waiter
came up to me and asked if he could help me. I asked if there was a
pay phone. He said there's one in the back but it doesn't work! I
thanked him and was about to leave when he opened a drawer and pulled
out a smart phone. He said you can use this.
I then coyly asked if it was a smart phone and if he would google the
galleries name to get the address. He said ok and while he was
searching he said he knows the gallery and its a couple of blocks
down the street.
That particular experience illustrates how we interact and perceive
the world. The human thing is to ask a person if they know where an
address is. The early tech thing is to phone information and our
current situation is to use GPS and Google. In a very fundamental
way this can become a basis for a performance.
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