Description
‘Life (Through the Screen)’ by Victor LeBlanc
Artist: Victor LeBlanc
Title: ‘Life (Through the Screen)’
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Dimensions: 36” x 48”
Framing: Unframed
Year of Creation: 2017
About the Artist:
(Artist Bio)
My work explores a narrative inspired by the question of where humanity’s mental, social, and technological evolution may lead us in the future. I often wonder what will become of our ever-expanding dependance and assimilation with technology. And why does this seem to be such an inevitable driving force in reshaping the way we think and communicate? When I think of the meaning of “technology” in the broadest sense possible, I can see it as a force powered by the uniquely human ability of imagination and creative thought combating the limitations of the physical world. The dawn of technology was the realization that, instead of evolving to fit our environment, we can change our environment to fit our needs. It is the way a sentient mind attempts to produce its own reality. In a sense, technology is the materialization of thoughts and ideas. And this becomes a fundamental force that allows us to steer our destiny wherever our imagination takes us. The reality we live in has changed so much since the industrial revolution, to the space age, to the numerous computer revolutions. But, are we reaching a point where our imagination has outgrown the physical world? One wonders this, as we watch ourselves become less engaged in the world around us, and more and more hypnotically absorbed into tiny screens. We stumble though space like inanimate objects, dissociated from our environment, immersed through the portal hovering in-front of our face. The parasitic grip of our “devices” have become a part of our very identity. But the allure is not the physical device, its the non-physical world that exists through that portal. What do we really see inside there? Are we subconsciously trying to escape the physical world? Are we compelled to integrate all of our thoughts and form a collective mind? Is it simply a trend of convenience? Or is there some uncontainable desire to migrate into a reality we have built with our own minds? It seems as though one of the core pursuits of human beings is to live in a world we have created. We manipulate our environment more than any other known life form. We conform the world to suit our needs, our ideals, and our insatiable curiosity. We yearn to revel in the ocean of our dreams. And it seems the only constraint to fully realizing our imagination, is the physical world. So are we destine to transcend it? If this is a possible future humanity is facing, I approach the idea with a healthy sense of concern and intrigue. My work explores a world where humanity has reached a turning point in evolution, where the physical world is bypassed and our minds are fully submerged in the synthesized reality we have been subconsciously constructing throughout the course of our existence.