Interpretation Michelangelo's Creation of Adam

Michelangelo Buonarroti - Creation of Adam

1511

Fresco

4.8m x 2.3m

Sistine Chapel

Rosa Paardenkooper - Digitalized

2014

Photo Layers
3008 x 2000

Istanbul

Process:

I added an Iphone to the picture which I placed in Adams hand.

Explanation:

Through this very subtle adjustment I aim to criticize the ways in which we let our lives be mediated by electronic devices. When we step out into any touristic area we can observe an increasing number of people who hardly seem to look at their environment, apart from through their phone, tablet or camera screen. I think that this is compromising the experience in many ways, since people no longer seem to be taking the time for contemplation but rather only aim to document their lives in order to show this footage to others. At first I wanted to make the Iphone bigger and more present, by tilting it slightly to the viewer and showing the picture Adam is making (either of himself or of God), but I decided to keep it to this subtle adjustment, since this development seemed to have taken over our lives in a similarly quiet fashion, making it almost inevitable for people to take on this attitude for themselves. In addition to that I also wanted to criticize the inattentiveness of people to the art works, which is almost inherent to the electronic mediation, by making the change so small that many would perhaps not even notice, were it actually to be there in the Sistine Chapel.