Cork Views: Art show explores impact of online world

Waking up in the morning, I instinctively reach for my phone. I am not answering a call or a message; like most people these days, I catch up on social media.

We look at the news, or in my case, I check what artists I follow are up to and what tips I can find along the way.

The thing is that having worked for over 20 years in the IT sector, I have experienced first-hand the evolution of the technology that surround us, from phones to computers, smartphones as well as software. No matter where we turn, this is our reality now.

While exploring this subject, I have come to understand that we’ve all have had our part to play. We came to this dependence as a collective. What started as a mean to connect people positively, evolved into a very diverse and sophisticated way to keep people engaged at all costs. With the goal to ensure that all ‘users’ provide and consume content, while fed more ads and topics.

We fall victims to engaging with posts and contents that were not the reason we connected in the first place, and just like that, an hour or two have passed and we can’t get back this precious time.

That said, it gives small businesses opportunities they could never have had before.

For artists, social media has opened doors, allowing us to showcase our work to beyond the walls of a traditional gallery. I know this as I have been using it myself.

Through Reality Inspiration, I have used social media extensively in 2025 to promote local artists via live exhibitions and events. It is a tool that we cannot do without these days, when trying to reach out to the world, to share our creativity with as many people as possible.

As an exercise, I had removed the social media apps from my phone since the beginning of the year and only reinstalled them recently. I felt more present and available to do all sorts of activities, even picking up books or focusing on drawing and painting instead.

These days, everyone seems to be documenting their lives; the prime example is probably the comparison between people at a concert in the 1990s, where people were jumping around, dancing and enjoying the music, versus today. You can be guaranteed that a sea of phones in the air will distract from living in the moment, no matter what artist or event that may be.

We are slaves in a way to the algorithm and, whoever we are, our digital footprint is a real thing and has become somehow an extension of our identity.

Our kids’ generation have become entangled in the web, unknowingly to them. Apps are only another way to package it for instant consumption. The rabbit hole seems to be infinite. We accept it and we digest it.

My upcoming solo exhibition at St Peter’s in North Main Street, Cork city, Someone Is Always Watching, came about after coming to the realisation of how dependent we have become on social media, and especially how I could witness kids being addicted to TikTok or Snapchat.

This exhibition is intended to use art as a bridge between the real world and the virtual world. The idea is to reconnect with the reality of exploring, and even connecting with pieces of art.

You might be drawn to some pieces of art more than others, or even be puzzled by a painting or two. Ultimately, what you feel about it will be personal to you, and that’s the beauty about it.

As an artist, I describe myself as unconventional. My approach to each painting is always going to be either an impulsive process, or it could also be an idea that I let mature until I get the lightbulb moment which will tie it all together.

Needless to say, this upcoming exhibition is the second of those, as it has been a topic I have wanted to approach in a very respectful way.

The idea being that I want everyone to question the pieces and come to their own interpretation, without feeling like they must understand it from the artist’s point of view.

One way or another, we now have so many ways to stay connected. Social media can inspire and give voice to artists that otherwise would find it much harder to put themselves forward.

How we regulate this relationship is up to each of us, as this has positive impacts as well as its challenges.

Next time you see a post from a local artist on your feed, give them a follow, and go and check their exhibition. Artists are always inspired by the reality surrounding them, and what you see is the artist’s own interpretation. No screen can ever do it justice.

When you attend the exhibition, Someone Is Always Watching, will you enjoy it, be intrigued, or have a completely different feeling about it?

In the end, your eyes will be the judge of it.

Someone Is Always Watching, a solo exhibition by Maria-V. Moore and presented by Reality Inspiration Ltd, runs from October 12-19. The opening launch takes place on Monday, October 12, from 7pm–9pm.