fromCONCENTRATE

In Lev Manovich’s Interaction as an Aesthetic Event – a text describing mobile phone evolution up to 2005 – he outlines a notion of technological interaction as theatre.*

One thing which this brings to my mind, is a memorable early scene in The Matrix (Neo’s first encounter with the elusive Morpheus) where a Nokia phone is taken out of a parcel box and, without stimulation, the mouthpiece of the device springs forth, giving a physical expression to the already heightened sense of ‘drama’ in this particular moment.

Whilst searching for a YouTube clip of the scene, I stumbled across a comment left on another video (specifically related to that Nokia phone) which gives further clues to the nature of this seductive and overwhelming effect:

lndac02 (3 months ago)
I still have mine, its a design classic. I used to feel like neo ever time I clicked the slider down to take a call. it is a cool phone and always will be.

Below, a fan remix video highlights this juxtaposition of cellphone interaction and drama in The Matrix; mobile ringtones precede heroic violence against an oppressive infrastructure; telephones are presented as both gateways and exits for drama and escape. (Watch it all – it’s great!)

Another YouTube video (below) makes audible, the ominous electro-magnetic interference which often preceded the shrill personalised ringtones of the late nineties – further emphasising another way in which these mobile devices engender dramatic tension.*  (Inadvertently?) the video also has some kind of intense rhythmic machine-like banging in the background.

So! – Don’t be annoyed next time someone picks up a call at an inappropriate time – REMEMBER! – In our, highly-networked, global society, ALL PHONES are the BAT-PHONE: Each and every one of us must, at all times, be ready and willing to be called upon and to act in the role of protagonist, centre ov the stage.***

* refers to: Brenda Laurel, Computers as Theatre (1991)
**iPhone users still experience this nostalgia-tinged interference phenomena if they go anywhere near an old telly.
***It does appear to be the case that we are all subconsciously sleepwalking towards the belief that we are NOT IN FACT MERELY RECEIVING A PHONECALL but instead, that we are at a pivotal point of the most important drama ever to manifest and potentially we are making THE crucial connection which might ultimately FREE (not only our individual self, but also) the whole of humankind from our collective technological enslavement.