The consumers of technology do a lot of multitasking, whether you look at those multiple tabs on their internet browser or multiple programs opened on their taskbar. Intel cores i5 and i7 were introduced with the purpose of smooth multitasking to allow running of multiple programs simultaneously.
Pierre Buttin, a French artist, composes an artistic photo series that shows the “fragmentation of our digital lives.”
For one week, Buttin took a screenshot every time he switched apps on his laptop or smartphone. He then integrated those multiple images into a single one and published them online as part of his “Day on a device” series. More the strips, the more apps he switched that day. The screenshots were ordered according to the time. The result is a frenzied and messy glimpse into Buttin’s technological presence. His laptop activity seems especially hectic from Monday through Thursday, but the Friday to Sunday activity is relatively calm. His phone activity is consistently chaotic from Monday to Sunday.
Buttin, who is based in Lyon appears to have a keen interest in screenshot-based art. Earlier this year, he published “Ten Days on Tinder,” a series of abstract images compiled from the superposition of about 100 screenshots of Tinder profiles. Another ongoing series known as “Landscapes” combines screenshots of the 100 most visited websites in the world. Buttin said that the purpose of the “Day on a device” project is to “reflect the fragmentation of our digital lives.”
“Indeed, the idea of multitasking makes me feel good and productive; yet in practice, it often results in a continuous stream of interruptions and lack of focus,” Buttin said in an email to The Verge. “At the end of the day, I have the impression to have accomplished nothing, which makes me sad.”
For the complete album of the photo series and complete story, visit the official website of Pierre Buttin.