Definition of a contemporary nightmare: you lose your phone and your most intimate details are made public. Such is the premise of an intriguing new exhibition by Egypt-born artist Mahmoud Khaled called Fantasies on a Found Phone, Dedicated to the Man Who Lost It. The artist, who is based in Berlin, has constructed an elaborate fictitious narrative of loss, longing and desire around the life of an unknown gay man who mislaid his unlocked, sim-less phone in a public toilet.
“Based on the content of his phone, this is apparently a very elegant person – he has particular taste in art and history – and he’s very sexual,” says Khaled, when we meet at the show’s venue, the Mosaic Rooms in London. “But he’s also very troubled,” he adds. “He’s dealing with severe insomnia and has a lot of sleep-aid and dating apps.”
