Digital disconnection and why I came back
Plus my recommendations of what to read, watch, and listen to 👀
Around my birthday in March, I had a slightly unhinged phase, it lasted a few weeks and was long overdue, imperceptible to anyone but my very closest. The giveaway? A LinkedIn post. Who called me out? My parents.
What would we do without the ones who love and know us best…
Keep reading if you want some thoughts on social media, living without it, and what other people are saying about its ginormous impact on the collective brain of Gen Z. Scroll on past if you just want my cultural recommendations!!
the cultural recs coming up include the following…
I was overtired, overwhelmed, over-promising and under-delivering, and having a minor identity crisis; 6 months into a new job which had radically rewritten a whole bunch of things in my life and my brain, 6 months distance from a personal event that had tossed me around like flotsam in the barrel of a wave.
So I took myself offline. At first, it was just going to be for a fortnight, but the longer I went without, the longer I wanted to stay without. Six weeks passed, and my screentime was gloatingly low. I started getting texts, and even a few emails, from people who had tried to reach me on social media and had begun to worry about my wellbeing. I was better than ever, I told them.
During this time, and still now, I was confronted daily by my relationship with technology and social media.
I returned slowly, (the first day I went on social media I felt horrifyingly low, as if my brain had got used to my new levels of chemicals and whatever was produced from 30 minutes of catching up on posts wrecked my equilibrium) and the boundaries which had been fiercely upheld previously became tighter, smaller, rigid.
No social media until I start the working day, and no phone if I can manage / No phone after dinner / During working hours, everything that can be done on the laptop is done on my laptop (this includes WhatsApp and iMessage) to avoid me touching my phone / Always ask why? and what? before doing anything online / Unfollow and mute like it's a sport / Keeping my screen time low IS a sport / No social media at weekends / My phone is not my priority.
The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt was recently published, outlining the role that social media, smartphones, and technology have had in the current mental health crisis affecting Gen Z. Haidt calls the period from 2010 to 2015 the “great rewiring” - a period when adolescents had their neural systems primed for anxiety and depression by extensive daily smartphone use. Haidt's collaborative newsletter
is a good read and has been recently publishing responses to sceptics and critics written by other scholars… interesting, have a gander.In a particularly feisty article by
, author of and a contributor to , she writes “the conversation can no longer just be about how bad social media is for our mental health. It has to be how bad it is for our humanity.” It's a gut-punching and fair point, considering all that she writes before it.It really is THAT serious this social media business, and I’m glad I’m continually reminded to take it seriously.
So, is there any good which comes from social media? What do you think? 👇🏻
Well, I think there is. But in moderation - everything in moderation.
I'm back online. I've pared it back, I've reflected and refined what I do and why.
I asked myself what, if anything, I had missed from my time disconnected and it was the following:
Sharing and exchanging lovely, interesting creative things that people should see, watch, read, and listen to and then discussing those things
Supporting artists, and those working towards increased recognition and funding for the arts for community and personal wellbeing
Thinking with others about the world, the role we play, the role art plays
Finding new things to get excited about.
In this spirit…
The Recommendations:
The Art:
LEO PARK ‘BEYOND PLEASURE’ (until 2nd June), Carl Kostyal
I LOVED this. I’m a sucker for sketchbook pages, and seeing the process as well as the outcome. “I wanted to make figures to resemble humans, but didn’t want to follow every rule of human anatomy.” says the artist. The result is twisting, soft, supple shapes, glossy and squishy. It’s Neo-abstraction, with a nod to Cubism and Surrealism. It discusses sexuality and sensuality with absurdity and humour, but also holds tightly to the fleeting nature of pleasure, life, and the body. Saša Bogojev is an exciting curator and writer, and wrote the exhibition text for this show (and maybe also curated it? I’m not sure…).
Harmony Korine ‘AGGRESSIVE DR1FTER PART II’ (until the 27th July), Hauser & Wirth
Korine is a prolific, multi-disciplinary artist, filmmaker and painter - I found this collection of works utterly compelling: vibrant, hallucinatory oil paintings inspired by his 2023 infrared-shot film "Aggro Dr1ft." They blend film and painting techniques, creating immersive, otherworldly experiences that evoke a dystopian, sci-fi atmosphere. It’s not often that I find myself puzzled by my feelings towards paintings - drawn in by the acid hues and the scale, pushed away by the masked militia with heavy artillery and bulletproof vests. Beautiful? Chilling? A bit of both.
Robert Rauschenberg ‘ROCI’ (until 15th June), Thaddaeus Ropac
For the first time since the project ended, part of Rauschenberg’s collection of artworks created during the Rauschenberg Overseas Culture Interchange (ROCI) is on view. Pronounced 'Rocky' after the artist's pet turtle, the ROCI project spanned 11 countries, with a particular focus on places where freedom of artistic expression had been restricted: Mexico, Chile, Venezuela, China, Tibet, Japan, Cuba, the Soviet Union, Germany (Berlin) and Malaysia. Rauschenberg has always been one of my favourite artists, and this project is something I had only heard of - to see some of the works made me grin like a Cheshire cat (see below) and was a grounding reminder of the importance of international artists exchange collaboration in times of turmoil.
Theatre 🎭
I went to see The Hills of California, written by Jez Butterworth and directed by Sam Mendes, at the end of March and haven't stopped thinking about it. It closes on the 15th of June and I would desperately recommend it. Razor sharp script, achingly beautiful, funny, devastating (themes of child s*xual abuse and e*thanasia), with an exceptional cast and brilliantly designed set. One of the best pieces of theatre I've ever seen, helped by the 1950s-1970s costume, music, and aesthetics. (Nominated: Olivier awards, Best New Play and Best Actress)
HadesTown has come over from Broadway to the West End and earned itself an extended run. It's the winner of 8 Tony Awards including Best Musical and the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theatre Album. Wrapped up in New Orleans jazz, it tells a version of the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. The set is stunning, the voices are otherworldly. I had the album on repeat for a good few weeks after.
TV 📺
If you have Amazon Prime, there’s one thing and one thing only that you should watch. Fallout was originally a video game (one which my boyfriend played as a child, meaning that I’m sorry to say my expectations were low), about surviving in an apocalyptic wasteland 200 years after a nuclear event on the West Coast of the USA.
Video games have limited plots, but very creative concepts of location and character and the writers of the TV show have run with what they were given. It’s a complex, critical analysis of human behaviour, instincts, leadership, ethics and morals, war, poverty and wealth, and what we do when the chips are down (or when a radioactive creature swallows the decapitated head you are protecting). It’s fantastical whilst remaining relatable (not sure how they did this either), I was hooked and it’s given me a new lens through which to consider current affairs. It also really helps that the nuclear war happened in the 50’s so half the show is recalling mid-century California, and the soundtrack throughout is the dulcet tones of Nat King Cole, Johnny Cash and Ella Fitzgerald.
Over on BBC iPlayer, The Detectives: Taking down an OCG follows Detective Sergeant Martin Soutter and his small team of specialist officers over two years as they investigate an Organised Crime Group (OCG) in Rochdale. Martin’s team uncovers a sophisticated criminal network involved in major drug dealing, widespread grooming of children to deal drugs, witness intimidation and suspected money laundering.
Some of you may know that my job is working for an organisation that supports the most vulnerable children caught in cycles of crime in the UK, some of whom have been or are being, exploited, and so it was no surprise that this series piqued the office’s interest. A reminder if you watch: the ‘bad guys’ aren’t the ones you see, they are the systems and processes that fail children, families, and communities, and the systemic injustices that put craters in the playing field, causing and exacerbating violence and harm.
It’s all an exercise in increasing empathy. Empathy for all. Think bigger than the individual, because it doesn’t start or end with them.
Honourable mention:
Diplo’s house on AD, which is a brutalist tropical DREAM (but also had me questioning why you’d install air con in an open-air house, is Diplo responsible for global warming??) Food for thought.
my structural engineer dad approves
Listening to:
I am pretty lucky that my music is curated for me by my producer boyfriend, and his latest obsession (who I have very happily jumped on board with) is Nemahsis, a Palestinian-Canadian. This song has been on repeat over the past week, and it has one of the best music videos I’ve seen in a long time. Effortlessly cool, politically charged, and such a fresh sound.
““Stick of Gum” is a love song, so rightfully, what more can I care for than where I come from and who I come from? The entire cast is my family, shot in our hometown Jericho, Palestine.” - Nemahsis
This interview with Avril Lavigne who has NEVER done a podcast interview ever! I used to sing with deep feeling “I’m with you” in my mum’s Peugeot aged about 6, mishearing the word “damn” as “damp”, which actually made a lot more sense to me then, and still does?
This radio programme: Art: market, money and malfeasance - I love a good deep dive into the murky world of art dealers! Radio 4 seems to soundtrack my life right now and I’m not mad about it.
Reading 📖
The Cloisters by Katy Hays - A novel (loosely) about art history written by an Art Historian. Dr Katy Hays is an academic writer who has side-stepped to bring us this lightly gothic story set in contemporary NYC during a sticky, hot summer. I don’t usually read fiction, but I’m trying to keep my reading list 50/50 this year and this didn’t take many pages for my attention to be caught. Good if you like romance, a slight thriller, and a hint of the occult.
Enough: Why it’s time to abolish the super-rich by Luke Hilyard - Well well well, what a fantastic book. Full of satisfyingly shocking quotes to pull out at dinner parties, you’ll finish this with a really good grasp of basic economics and the principles of pre-distribution and re-distribution - how they work in practice, and the policy needed to sustain them, oh, and a real rocket up your *ahem* about who has the money and what they are NOT doing with it.
My name is Charles Saatchi and I am an Artoholic - Say what you want about the man (no really, please do… comment below), he loves art and he loves money and that combination has done an awful lot of good for British art. I reread this at the weekend and enjoyed both his total dismissal of global warming (it’s from 2005, so that hasn’t aged well) and his genuine awe and respect for artists. If you want to understand why the contemporary art market is how it is, this is a great place to start.
Right, that’s a good dose.
Take what you like, and please share your recommendations with me.
I’m not sure how I will progress with this newsletter, or indeed with any of my online bits and bobs… so thanks for showing up when I do.
No promises from a recovering-over-promiser 🌻
Have a great morning, afternoon, evening… Love Phoebe x