the gen-z version of a summer camp lake monster is actually a giant iPhone

this giant hand and iPhone were actually one of the least strange sights to see at the 2017 festival of future nows in berlin. one of the weirder moments was watching a limp man fall from a high building. his explosive landing, on a giant pillow, shot pounds of orange powder billowing into the chaotic festival air. even weirder: well, there was this long soggy curtain, with a couple of human silhouettes moving excruciatingly slow on the other side and — embossing the curtain like dextrous babies — they stretched and kicked forward as if trapped inside a giant, wrinkly womb. against disruptive installations such as these, aram bartholl’s installation ‘obsolete presence’ feels less abrasive, but just as unnerving…especially to digital natives.

all images courtesy of aram bartholl

the hand does not move, even as a homescreen button slowly becomes overtaken by the tide. it just sits there, forever emerging from the water, like a gen-z version of a summer camp lake monster — reminding viewers about that piece of technology in their pockets. of course, viewers pull their phones out to take pictures to find their own phony-hands reflected back at them though a mirror. the work, by aram bartholl, premiered at the exhibition ‘odyssey’ at kunstverein arnsberg in june 2017 and shown again, appropriately, during the festival of future nows at hamburger bahnhof later that year.