Nowadays it is undeniable that technology and social media are bigger and more widely used than ever before. It is no longer just teens and young adults on Facebook, social media has spread to all age groups from 80 year olds to 8 year olds.  Everyone has a social media account, if not 3 or 4, and the invention that was meant to bring people together is becoming so dominant that it is actually driving them apart. That is what the image below is depicting. The image below is a piece of graffiti art called “Mobile Lovers” done by the famous anonymous graffiti artist Banksy.  The image below shows a man and a woman embracing each other but looking at their phones over each other’s shoulders, implying that their phones are more important to them than each other. Banksy always tries to send a message with his art and the message in this piece is pretty clear. By looking at action and color, we see the control of technology on our daily lives, which is important because it serves as a warning about how we think of social media and online interaction. There is very few objects in this piece so the two characters and their actions are very important to the overall message. 

Banksy shows the problems with technology through the character’s interactions with their technological devices and each other. The characters in the picture, a man and a woman, are most likely a couple embracing each other but not quite in the moment, looking at their phones over each other’s shoulders. The man and woman are both wearing suits, and are most likely both getting home from work and greeting each other for the first time, after not seeing each other all day. In this embrace, which should be charged with a longing love for each other after not seeing each other all day, instead both the man and the women seem disinterested and apathetic. Blankly gazing at the neon screen in front of them. They each have their partner in one hand and their phones in the other. Faced with a decision on where to give their attention and what is more important, and both the man and the woman choose their phones.  This symbolizes the priorities of much of the world, that the virtual world is more important than real life human contact, even human contact that is sitting right in front of you.  Banksy is trying to teach the lesson that nothing that happens on a screen or online is more important than what is happening in real life right in front of us. Much of the world is too busy seeking attention online when they could be getting the attention they need through real life interaction. Worried about their likes and retweets people forget what is really important and that is what Banksy is trying to teach in this piece.  Banksy does not just teach this lesson with the characters and their actions but also symbolizes a lot of the issues through color. 

Banksy uses many tools to get across his message in this piece but color is one of the most powerful. The colors of the image show a lot about the emotion and feelings in the image. The overall dark and mostly colorless image shows a lot about how the couple in the image feel about each other.  The black and white colors represent the bland and emotionless embrace these two are sharing, and overall what technology is turning their entire relationship into. Symbolizing what happens to face to face interactions when you care too much about technology.  Their grey faces staring emotionlessly at their phones, practically looking straight through each other. There are also glimpses of blue throughout this piece but specifically on the phones and on the faces of the couple. The blue represents the sorrow and sadness of this couple which appears to be spreading from the phones to the faces of the couple. This connection implies that the sadness is originating from the phones, and causing the sadness that is apparent on the faces of the couple.  The brighter white on the front of the couples faces also shows the ominous glow of the phones lighting up their faces.  A glow that could easily be replaced by the glow of happiness or love if the couple would enjoy their time together instead of escaping into a virtual world. Banksy has a clear message he is trying to get across in this piece and he uses color very well to enhance his point. 

Banksy’s art is always filled with lessons and his piece “Mobile Lovers” is no exception. By looking at action and color, we see the control of technology on our daily lives, which is important because it serves as a warning about how we think of social media and online interaction.  With everything moving online from communicating to shopping to dating many of us can lose sight of reality. Technology is greatly reducing the face to face communication and making all communication between fluttering fingers and eyes staring at glowing screens. Throughout this piece Banksy is trying to make the point that always being preoccupied, we could miss out on meaningful opportunities and face to face connections with others. We could all learn something from this piece because in one way or another we all look over the shoulder of beautiful things to escape into a virtual reality.
