For all of the “progress” associated with advancing technologies and the purported conveniences of having tiny, powerful computers at our fingertips, there are certainly some drawbacks. Smartphones today—and their millions of apps—are data-collecting devices as much as they are portals to search engines, maps, social media, the news, and anything else on the internet. And the market for regular hardware upgrades and software updates can trap us in a perpetual loop, spending big money for faster speeds and the newest features.
There’s certainly some merit in phones and gear that are a bit “less smart.” Just as the Luddite Club, members of which prefer to switch off or use “dumb phones,” citing the value of building real-life friendships rather than spending a ton of time on social apps. For a lot of Millennials who came of age as cell phones rolled out, they’re just old enough to remember AOL Instant Messenger, chatrooms, basic flip phones, and pixelated Game Boys. The generation can recall an earlier, simpler era of digital tech and the World Wide Web despite being the first to enter adulthood and careers that have been indelibly shaped by its transformations.
For one such Millennial, Nicole Nikolich, a.k.a. Lace in the Moon, throwback devices from the early 2000s like the Blackberry, T9 phones, and Nokia’s “Bricks” are sources of reminiscence, play, and inspiration. Through the medium of crochet, itself a craft practice deeply entwined with comfort and nostalgia, the artist has created a series of larger-than-life fiber portraits of iconic digital objects and icons for her solo exhibition user_history at Paradigm Gallery + Studio.
Crochet—and by extension, craft—might be seen as something of an antithesis to the digital or virtual realm. One must use their hands to do a timeless, manual activity, and it doesn’t get much more analog than physical yarn and a needle or two. A stitch may also be likened to a pixel, as one tiny component is a building block that can add up to an entire image or object when combined with thousands of others.
By translating old phones, handheld video games, and outdated application icons into stitched fiber, Nikolich emphasizes the power of concentration, imperfection, and the handmade—not only in terms of making but in our daily interactions and relationships with ourselves and others. “In her largest body of work to date, Nikolich reminds us of the varied methods of human connection while combining traditional craft and the digital world,” the gallery says.
user_history runs from March 6 to 29 in Philadelphia. Find more on the artist’s Instagram.
