1800-6678-25442 (Nostalgia)
- 9:35 pm
- May 18, 2020
- No Comments
My project is an exploration of the themes of nostalgia, memory, technology, consumption, and security. I was inspired by the tendency to flock to the familiar during the time of crises. We seek emotional safety in products, people, or media we experienced when we were in a stable place emotionally. For most, the time we felt the most secure was childhood. For generation z, our childhood was intertwined with an increasingly complex world. Overflowing with information, and with technologies developing with the blink of an eye. These variables influenced our experiences without our knowledge, which are ingredients in the recipe for recreating the past. Through my investigations, I discovered the materiality inherent in different technologies, the emotional associations to the quality of sound, and their cultivation to the feelings of emotional security.
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We reminisce about media we consumed, because it reminds of a simpler time and the people we were when we first experienced that song/show/book, etc. Our generation is one that with the help of technology, many of us experienced the same media, at the same time. Technology has gone through a hyper evolution in our lifetime, and the type and quality of content available is indicative of the device presenting it to us. In some way, a device is a snapshot of the era, experience, and content itself. Although the mass of media we all consumed as individuals may be different, the commercials on public television are something than most experienced. These commercials were targeted towards us, and eventually became associated with many of the same emotional aspects of more personal things. The infomercials of the mid 200’s incredibly encompassed the themes of time, nostalgia, and security that I intended. I wanted my project to be something that was part of the collective experience for many. Many of these infomercials were buried deep within my memory, but it ultimately made me smile to watch them again. Hopefully, it will jog some memories in others as well. I chose to make an installation because I wanted to use the metaphorical element of recreated a space to aide with the auditorial space I created. I also think that appropriating the familiar was an important aspect. Forts are something rooted in childhood and represent familiarity and security. Since these feelings are also deeply rooted in nostalgia, I felt this was an extra layer to support my theme. My installation is the physicality of technology, time, and consumption and how they can connect to create a safe space.
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Before starting this project I was mainly focused on the potential of content to instill a feeling of nostalgia. I thought that it was dependent on the types of media (show, song, commercial, etc.) that are buried in our memories and therefore have an attachment to. However, I discovered that another major component is the material content of the sound itself. Many of the themes I researched initially, technology, media, consumption, were present, they just connected in ways that I didn’t foresee. The material quality of the sound was a consequence of the technology producing it, which is also indicative of the time in which it was produced. Throughout the process, I struggled with making an aged environment sonically, and I think I was because I was trying to mimic with the wrong materials. Technology from the early to mid 200’s produced a quiet hum or hissing sound, that lowered the audio quality of its content. I found that this soft hum was indicative of the time and phycological space that I was chasing after. Working on this project made me think a lot about time and the distortions of our own memories. How psychological spaces can manifest themselves in the physical, or in our actions. It’s amazing how something as simple as a commercial for a badly manufactured toy can have so much impact. It represents a collective childhood experience and therefore is associated with childhood, joy, and sanctuary itself. Something that at the root, we are all trying to find our way back to.
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