Share (2021) captures a pivotal moment in technological history—the first digital photo ever shared via a cell phone. In the painting, a newborn rests peacefully in her father’s arms, quietly announcing her arrival to the world. This image references the groundbreaking innovation of entrepreneur and technologist Philippe Kahn. In 1997, as Kahn awaited the birth of his daughter, he improvised a way to instantly share her first moments. By connecting a digital camera to his flip phone and syncing them with a few lines of code on his laptop, he created the first mobile photo-sharing device. The result was revolutionary: his daughter’s image was transmitted instantly to over 2,000 people, years before the advent of camera phones and social media. Share reflects not only a personal milestone but also a technological breakthrough that reshaped how we capture and share our lives. Share invites viewers to consider how a single innovation has transformed modern communication, bridging distances and redefining human connection in the digital age.

Q: Could you talk about the background and inspiration behind this piece?

Tan Mu: This work was inspired by a pivotal technological moment in 1997, when entrepreneur and technologist Philippe Kahn created the first mobile photo-sharing system. While waiting for his daughter to be born, he connected a digital camera to a flip phone and synchronized them with a few lines of code on his laptop. Through this improvised setup, he was able to instantly share his newborn daughter’s photo with more than 2,000 people. This happened years before camera phones and social media became part of everyday life.

That moment marked more than a technical breakthrough. It fundamentally changed how images, emotions, and memories could be shared. At the time, real-time photo sharing was almost unimaginable. Today, it has become an inseparable part of daily life. The evolution of this technology has transformed not only how we communicate, but also how we experience and relate to the world. With this work, I wanted to capture that turning point in the history of image transmission and internet culture.

Q: How do you understand the relationship between technological tools and emotional expression?

Tan Mu: Technology evolves rapidly, but the emotions behind it remain constant. Kahn’s desire to share the joy of his daughter’s birth is fundamentally the same reason people share moments on social media today. We use technology to communicate emotion, to connect, and to preserve memory. In this sense, technology is only a tool. What truly drives connection is human feeling. Through this work, I wanted to reflect on how technology functions as a channel for emotional expression and how tools and sentiment are deeply intertwined.

Q: Your paintings rarely depict human figures directly. What is unique about the newborn imagery in this work?

Tan Mu: Although this piece still centers on a technological breakthrough, it shifts the focus away from machines and systems and toward what is being shared. Rather than emphasizing devices or infrastructure, the work highlights the content itself and the emotional act of sharing something meaningful. The newborn becomes the focal point.

I am drawn to images of newborns because they represent purity and the unknown. When a child enters the world, they exist before social labels, gender roles, or cultural frameworks take shape. This state of raw existence reminds me of images sent back by Mars rovers, showing landscapes untouched by human presence. In portraying a newborn, I wanted to capture that sense of origin, innocence, and uncertainty, while reflecting on humanity’s earliest and most fundamental relationship with the world.

Q: In your studio, works depicting babies are displayed alongside pieces from the Horizon series. Is there a connection between them?

Tan Mu: There is a strong conceptual connection between these works and the Horizon series. In Horizon, I explore satellite perspectives of Earth and themes related to space exploration. In Share, the newborn symbolizes the beginning of life and humanity’s encounter with the unknown. Together, they reflect different scales of exploration—one cosmic, the other deeply human.

This connection often brings to mind the final scene of 2001: A Space Odyssey, where a newborn gazes back at Earth from space. By placing these works together, I am thinking about how technology extends human vision, both outward into the universe and inward toward our origins. Through this dialogue, I explore how technological progress reshapes our understanding of life, time, and our place in the cosmos.