Cellophane, cellphone

If one is too engrossed at looking at the smartphone in the palm of their hand as they walk by the house on the corner of 21st and I streets, they might have missed life imitating art imitating life. The current installation by Melody Molina and Travis Bethmann at the InsideOut—the alternative window-display art space of the antique three-story residence in Midtown known as the Flop Haus—consists of three human figures made of transparent plastic, two of which are hollow and have faces that are fused to the glowing distraction of their phones. The third middle figure, which has wires bursting from its head and body and a glowing red heart, looks directly at the viewer with one hand raised to the glass to make human connection and break free of the addictive grip of technology. “Just look at any group of people sitting silently next to each other, completely absorbed into their phones and disregarding the very presence of anyone else,” Molina said. But you’re going to have to look up away from your phone to notice.