Andrew Rae has done a lot of things throughout his career. He did drawings, animations, illustrations, sculptures, exhibitions and music. Today we’d like to zoom in on his brilliantly creative project called ‘phone buddies’. Andrew lives in London and he likes to go on walks in his neighborhood called Hampstead Heath. He started noticing that people are so engrossed in their phones that they almost bump into you on the street because they don’t know where they’re going. They pay so much attention to their phones that the outside world becomes almost secondary to them in terms of importance. Some people just stop in the middle of the street to check the phone, others scroll through it while having lunch, and some manage to even combine walking their dog with being on their phone. So what Andrew decided to do is collaborate with a street photographer, take some pics of people being on their phones in the city and then he drew little monsters around them. The idea is that their phone is a little pet monster that they’re communicating with. Here’s how that little project turned out.
1. This guy is enveloped by his octopus phone buddy. There’s no chance of getting out of those tentacles, you just give up and enjoy the weird little hug around your head.
2. This lady might be walking her dog, but all eyes are on her and her phone. She’s only looking at the dog occasionally to check if the four legged fluff is ok.
3. This man’s phone buddy is having a bit of a rough day. It’s probably just a virus, it’ll pass soon, but for now they both have to deal with all of that black foam.
4. Now this is a stomach bug for sure. That phone buddy is not doing well. Do you ever feel like your phone is throwing up disgusting green gunk at you yet instead of putting it away you keep looking at it?
5. This is my favorite. Why would you just enjoy a cup of coffee when you can deal with complex puzzles and monitoring people’s lifelines at the same time.
6. This one is the most relatable. Doesn’t your phone make you feel a bit spaced out and like you’re looking at everything that’s happening on earth from far away, from a different galaxy? I sure feel that way sometimes. We’re all just floating through space.
