Lucy was the first of her kind to be found and was later classified as Australopithecus afarensis; a type of hominin that had both human and ape-like characteristics.
48 years later, an artistic rendering of Lucy now stands in a hall of the National Museum of Natural History. Instead of a stone, the hairy hominin holds a smartphone and is mugging for a selfie. The lifelike model underscores the important role tools have played in human evolution since the days of some of our oldest relatives like Lucy. The display also serves as a teaser of the museum’s upcoming exhibition, “Cellphone: Unseen Connections.”
Since 2011, [cultural anthropologist Joshua] Bell has been conducting research on cell phones which led to the curation of the “Cellphone” exhibition,which is slated to open to the public on June 23, 2023. The exhibit will feature around 350 objects ranging from gold artwork from Egypt and copper artifacts from the Great Lakes region to tech staples like gold-plated SIM cards and copper wires. Displays will also include 39 portraits of people who work along various aspects of the device’s global supply-chain and use. Collectively these objects and portraits, as well as films, will take visitors through the global impact cell phones have had on humans, our environment and culture globally.
