“Monolith” is a new large-scale, groundbreaking installation by international artist SpY. The piece explores the present and future of our relation with screens and data using light, sound and context to unprecedented effect. “Monolith” was unveiled in Barcelona as part of Llum BCN Festival 2023, drawing a large stream of visitors and becoming instantly viral.

In “Monolith”, SpY pays homage to Kubrick’s classic film “2001”. The movie portrays the encounter of a group of pre-human apes with a large monolith, incomprehensible at first, but eventually impelling them to use tools and marking the start of human evolution.

SpY’s “Monolith” is presented as a metaphor of today’s pervasive screens. Screens are the magical mirrors in which we build our personas, and where an ever larger part of our reality takes form. They have become integrated into our lives to an extent that, until fairly recently, was still unconceivable.

The screen’s potential for disruptive, emancipatory endeavours and for the circulation of genuine ideas is obscured by a deluge of empty content. We remain stunned by the constant updating of the screen. The screen gives us access to everything, yet keeps us in chains.

SpY’s “Monolith” draws into question this new reality and the encroaching intrusion into our personal information. Are we already in the time when humans become data? How will we confront the integration of bodies and devices? Is this the last generation of humans who are not digitally transformed?

Llum BCN, Festival de artes lumínicas

Artistic direction: Maria Güell 

Curatorship: Oriol Pastor 

Soundtrack: Omar Tenani