Visual Analysis Essay - Grade: A PDF

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A Distraction from Love, Technology

In April of 2014 the well-known street artist Banksy created yet another controversial piece of art. Banksy created the artwork on a piece of plywood in front of a doorway at a youth center club. The youth center club is located in Banksy’s hometown of Bristol. The owner of the youth center club took the artwork inside immediately after he discovered it, and attempted to sell the piece. After some dispute with the city, and a letter from Banksy himself, the youth club owner was given permission to sell Banksy’s piece to keep the club running. The artwork was given the name Mobile Lovers, and upon looking at the piece it is obvious why it was named this. This piece shows two people on their phones. The people have their hands around each other like they are hugging one another. One of the individuals is a man and the other is a woman. Their phones are behind their backs while they are hugging, and the blue light from the phones is the only thing in the picture that is not in black and white. Both of the individuals’ faces are lit up from the phone light. Neither of the individuals are looking at each other, both of the people are staring into their phones. The facial expressions of the people are muted and emotionless. Clothing is another thing that stands out in this picture because they are both dressed in professional attire. The man has his hand around the woman’s waist, and the woman has her hand resting on the man’s shoulder. Each of their other hands is holding their phones behind their backs. The woman also has a visible ring that is placed on her left-hand ring finger, while the man does not. After analyzing these significant parts in the image, the viewer cannot help but notice the opposition between reality and technology. This constant battle is something people invested in

the digital era struggle with. These people can probably remember a time when they were with someone and either they themselves were too distracted on their phone to pay attention to the other person, or the other person was too distracted on their phone to pay any attention to them. A consequence of this is living their lives with their heads stuck in their phones not seeing what is literally right in front of their face. The couple in the picture have their phones lighting up each persons’ face blue. The blue light happens to be the only color in the grey scale artwork. The couple pictured here are physically so close that their phones are lighting up the other persons face, but they are not paying any attention to one another. How is it that two people can be so physically close together, but so emotionally far away? It is implied that the man and woman are in some form of a relationship due to the way that they are standing together and have their hands placed on one another. Women do not typically put their hand on a man’s shoulder, and men do not typically place their hands around a woman’s waist if they are not together in some sort of intimate way. One of the first notable thing about this image is the fact that the man and woman are on their phone while embracing. Would the piece give off the same message if they were just merely standing near each other on their phones? It is in fact significant that the couple are hugging and have their phones behind the others back. They are face to face, close enough to kiss, but their faces are covered in the glowing blue light of their cell phones. What could be so important on their phones that they are completely distracted by them? What else could be going on between them? Upon closer inspection, one can note the ring on the woman’s finger. It is on her lefthand ring finger, where one typically wears a wedding ring. The man however does not have a ring visible. Why would the image only show one of them with a wedding ring? Perhaps the man has a ring, but we do not see one, so we cannot make a definitive statement that he is

married or not. However, the woman could possibly be married, but to whom? Could it be possible that she is married to someone other than the man in this image? Perhaps that is who she is texting on her phone. If she is texting her husband while with this other man, who is the other man texting? It is possible that this image is showing how cell phones are such a distraction we do not even notice what we are doing and who we are with. Maybe the woman is so invested in whatever is on her tiny square screen to realize that she is with another man. The way I interpret the image is that the two people are texting each other to show how in this day and age our cell phones dictate everything in our lives including all of our conversations and relationships. We spend all day walking around with all our attention on these phones that they are practically glued to our hands. The couple in the image is a prime example of this. They are so fixated on their cell phones that they are not even paying attention to the person they are physically touching and literally face to face with. Why do we let our phones rule our lives and our relationships the way we do? Maybe we would all be better off without phones completely. Without phones the couple would be able to communicate positively with their words and actions. In a relationship communication is a key factor and by being on their phones the way that they are, they show that they do not care enough about the other person to give them their undivided attention.

Works Cited Gander, Kashmira. “Banksy's Mobile Lovers: Youth Club Owner Who Sold Artwork in Bristol Receives Death Threats.” The Independent, Independent Digital News and Media, 27 Aug. 2014, www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/news/banksy-mobilelovers-sold-owner-of-youth-club-where-artwork-appeared-in-bristol-received-death9695327.html...