Jenni Maellinen - Thesis 1 - 01 - The Collective What?

THE COLLECTIVE

WHAT

?

a thesis exploration by Jenni Mällinen

We must get beyond passions, like a great work of art. In such miraculous harmony.

We should learn to love each other outside of time…

detached.

introduction

With one simple line, in 1960 Federico Fellini was able to capture a very complex idea — the problem of getting stuck in time. The duration of an experience should not be what is considered in evaluation it, it is the actual experience and human connection which should be taken into consideration. A time, time period, age, or length of time should not be what is of value, but the experience itself.

With the emergence and development of television, film and more recently the internet, collective memory has be-come an important way of sharing and remembering... with time becoming an increasingly important factor. As digital media becomes more and more accessible time seems to no longer be an issue. We no longer have bar-riers to information – information is free, extensive, and easy to find – and more importantly it has become easier and easier to share information with our peers and even a larger network of individuals. With the prevalence of smartphones, tablets, and laptops everyone has become an author, re-porter, photographer, videographer, and curator all in one.

No longer are we bound to cultural norms, our inner network or even to the language we speak – information has become increasingly malleable. Memories and ideas are being spread faster and farther with collaboration being welcomed with open arms. One might think that due to the development of digital media we have become less nostalgic because the emphasis seems to be on moving forward rather than being retrospective, but I think we’ve arrived at a time where we look equally to the future and the past. Rather than keeping memories and ideas to ourselves we share them and even store them online.

Even though sharing has become simpler and faster the experience of sharing memories has been devalued. I remember the experience of looking through hundreds and hundreds of my father’s

photographs stored away in - some organized, some not – shoe boxes. We used to keep things like shoe boxes in anticipation for another future function. Rather than storing things away, is there a way to make collection and storing of information more fluid and engaging? As it is now, these moments and memories are stuck in time.

Time is an important factor in every part of our lives. It’s hard to imagine that it used to take years to publish something, months to research a topic, weeks to travel somewhere, and hours to get in contact with someone. With the advent of digital media we have lost our patience. It seems that something is not deemed good anymore if it is not created instantly after an event taking place. Memes are created within a moment’s notice (i.e. McKayla is not Impressed).

Though abundance of

information is obviously beneficial to society as a whole, this excess of information now means that most things don’t last anymore. The more information that is out there the less valuable one tiny piece in the puzzle is. I want to bring value back into the things that we produce

and put out in the world.We still think of events in

time on a personal level by asking each other “Where were you when … happened?” but now we share mainly through “social” networks. This new way of sharing has become much more immediate and uncannily depersonal.

I aim to personalize the experience of sharing again.

How can moments and memories exist outside of time?

precedents

Sophie Blackall’s illustration project in which she would pick out interesting “Missed Connections” posts on New York’s Craigslist and illustrate them quite literally.

“Small talk about weather w/ awkward blonde in tribal print dress Thursday, August 4, 2011- w4m - 28 You caught me looking at you on the corner of Carmine and Varick and then approached me to make small talk about the weather. I blushed, stuttered, and had a moment of verbal diarrhea that culmi-nated in me asking you what you did. You looked disconcerted, said something about mailing lots of envelopes to LA, after which I got even more awkward, said "good luck with that" and fled. With a face like that, you're probably not single. Even if you are, I'd likely still be shy and tongue-tied. “

Nicole Meyer’s “Branding 10,000 Lakes Project”

“Lake logos have a tendency to be, well, fairly ugly. This project was cre-ated to rethink what they could be.

One Minnesota Lake. One Logo. Every day.”

Literature:“Einstein’s Dreams”by Alan Lightman

Clay Shirky’s writings on the internet and journalism

Video:Ladd Design’s “Fresh Impressions on Brandmarks (from my 5-year-old)”(right)

design ideasThe speed at which something is created correlates directly to its popularity online. During the ongoing debates in the past couple of weeks, I’ve been doodling some display lettering based off of key words from the discussions. I wasn’t entirely happy with them just yet as it wasn’t a primary focus, yet still I wanted to post at least one online relatively soon after the debate. The one I uploaded onto tumblr just said “Malarkey” but due to the media attention the word was already getting it became a relatively popular post (even though I uploaded it four days after the debate was over).

This little experiment speaks to the immediacy online as well as collective memory and experience so I think developing something off of this model would be

interesting. As in creating typographic pieces which speak to the current social climate and buzzwords being used on that specific day with a fast turnaround. This adds a personal touch to the information already being passed around and focuses more attention on the trending topic.

I would like my project to have a branding or lettering focus because it is what I enjoy doing and developing the most. The idea of branding memories intrigues me. To create a full identity for a memory to be shared from all angles is interests me because it would give the outside viewer a well-rounded impression of the initial experience being expressed.

Things to consider:Collective Memory (and the generational divide)RepeatabilityCollective IntelligenceThe Google EffectTransactive MemorySocial LoafingMetamemoryRosy RetrospectionReminiscence BumpSelf-Reference EffectCollective Consciousness