I feel a disdain for the term digital detox. In Syvertsen and Enli’s article ‘Digital detox: Media resistance and the promise of authenticity’ they note that ‘the digital detox trend is characterized by nostalgia’ (Syvertsen and Enli, 2020 pg 1270) connoting the days before smartphones, childhood and freedom.

And yet, I am not sympathetic to this idea. I feel that because the article excludes the idea that today’s young people have not experienced life before technology, or a life they remember. A peer of mine in class similarly said that speaking of detox is a frustrating waste of time. I suspect this may be a symptom of others using the ‘digital detox’ as a Band-Aid on the bullet wound that is society’s larger dependence on technology, making detox only a dream or marketing ploy.

To detox would also be to disrupt a system of connectivity that would be equally detrimental to young people. As ‘Digital Detox’ was added to the dictionary in 2013 (Syvertsen and Enli 2020), the term FOMO (fear of missing out) was also included. The push for digital detox almost seems out of touch in today’s communication landscape as to be without social media is to be on the fringe in 2023.

However, digital rebellion is in my mind different, and I resonated greatly with Nick Briz’s glitch art. It lacks that aura of consumerism that digital detox has and directly challenges technology without any social consequences. And it makes art. This is the angel I would take to form a new relationship with technology.

Included in an image of my involuntary digital detox and my glitch art.

~ 267 Words

 

References:
– Briz, N 2015, THOUGHTS ON GLITCH[ART]v2.0, Briz website, accessed 19 March 2023, <http://nickbriz.com/thoughtsonglitchart/>
– Syvertsen, T. and Enli, G 2019, ‘Digital detox: Media resistance and the promise of authenticity. Convergence’, The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, 26(5-6), pg.1269–1283.

Bibliography:
– Buglass, S L et al, 2017 ‘Motivators of online vulnerability: The impact of social network site use and FOMO’, Computers in Human Behavior, 66 (1), pg 248-255
– Hodkinson C, 2019 ‘Fear of Missing Out’ (FOMO) marketing appeals: A conceptual model’, Journal of Marketing Communications, 25(1), pg 65-88,
– Kim, J et al, 2020, ‘Investigating ‘Fear of Missing Out’ (FOMO) as an extrinsic motive affecting sport event consumer’s behavioral intention and FOMO-driven consumption’s influence on intrinsic rewards, extrinsic rewards, and consumer satisfaction’, PLOS ONE, 15(12)

In week 2, we observed the distinction between old and new media, if such distinction exists. Natale’s outlines that ‘old media’ is only a constructed perception of a technology in ‘There Are No Old Media’ (2016). However, this makes me wonder, who has shaped this perception surrounding old and new media? How would this serve companies and individuals?

Planned obsolescence, over consumption and capitalism come to mind. If the ‘older’ models of the iPhone function perfectly, why do we feel as if they have become outdated? I feel that it is a twisted (yet well executed) ploy to get us to purchase the latest technology, growing the wealth of the major corporations further. The terms old and new media now feels predatory.

Harvey Salgo (2016) speaks to the environmental repercussions of the old vs new media mindset, and the ways the overconsumption of technology exacerbates climate change. He sates that ‘the market strategy built around rapid style change and shoddy commodities has deep ecological significance especially as it pertains to resource use’ (Salgo 2016, pg 27) speaking to the demand the mind set of old and new has put on production and thus is depletion of our natural resources.

And yet in class I could see that my continuous acquisition of Nintendo consoles over my life contributes to this. The DS Lite, the 3Ds, the Wii and The Switch? Why did I feel the need to buy all of them when they serve the same purpose, and even host the same game? I am left with this question.

~253 Words

• Natale, S 2016, ‘There Are No Old Media’, Journal of Communication, Vol 66 (4): 585-603
• Salgo, H 2016, ‘The Obsolescence of Growth: Capitalism and the Environmental Crisis’, Review of Radical Political Economics, Vol 5 (3), pg 26-45.
• TimeToast (Date Unknown) Nintendo Handheld Consoles, TimeToast website, accessed 10 March 2023, Header Image and Hyperlink, <https://www.timetoast.com/timelines/nintendo-consoles-923c4449-667d-4c75-b6aa-d480458c8d96>

 

Jan 7 2021 – At home. I took this photo because I was bonding with my dad, doing a task that combines both of our interests. I feel deeply melancholy about this now because my relationship with my father has deeply changed and I cant imagine doing this now. He looks happier than I have seen in recent years and I miss this version of him. It was sunny.

The photo includes my father in the back, holding up a rainbow trout that he painted which was much better than mine in the foreground. He has never painted before, so I was surprised. He is smiling happily and has headphones in, probably listening to jazz.

 

Week One taught me that making is both old and new. Tim Ingold in The Textility of Making explains that those who make follow ‘a line already incorporated into the timber [the trajectory of making] through its previous history of growth’’ (Ingold 2010, pg 92) stating that making is not original, nor is it spontaneous in the hands of the maker through the analogy of a timber worker. 

I found this quote to be poignant during week one as each folding step during our origami practice follows the last, relying on the previous ‘wood grain’ to guide the maker in their actualisation of a crane, a box or plane. Moreover, as the historical art has many rules, my yellow box follows the instructions for the same box people have folded for hundreds of years. And yet, I still possess the ability to alter the box to my liking. 

In a very similar way, when comparing digital and physical media later in the week, I came to understand the gratification I feel when engaging in my chosen tactile media, painting, stems from my ability to master the techniques that guide my practice. The techniques of the greats seek to place my work in the intricate mesh of artists who are connected through technique and time, creating a fulfilling non digital hobby.

And thus I feel that Ingolds analogy to be important to the studio thus far as it acknowledges the historical past, previous steps and instructions in making and the influence it can have on our work in the present and how it enriches our understanding of the importance of non digital media.

~272 Words

Ingold, T 2010, ‘The Textility of Making‘, Cambridge Journal of Economics, vol 34, pg 91-102, accessed March 5 2023.