Wednesday, November 3, 2010
A Date With The Family
I mentioned in my last blog my dabbling in media remix. I have to say, it was much more of a challenge than I originally anticipated, but I am pleased with the final products of my first attempt. I focused on the idea of intimacy and how technology facilitates interactions even over long distances. I really liked the idea of the "new family dinner", sort of a technologically assisted family reunion. People are able to interact in personal ways without needing the spacial closeness as was needed in the past. Cell phones, Skype, and the like bridge the gap for us and we are able to share and connect like never before. In my series of three videos, I juxtaposed films from the 1950s depicting the very Cleaver-esque family with the modern reality of dependence on digital communication. I seem to center on phone conversations a lot because I believe that there's so much intimacy in being able to just hear another person's voice. I feel that it can transcend physical distance. Take a peek at the fruits of my labor and let me know what you think.
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I'm really excited that you used "A Date With the Family" for part of your project. I also came across that video in the Prelinger Archives and was very intrigued by the description of it.
ReplyDeleteIt's also interesting how, with long distance communication, we feel so much more connected with a person even though we've only received an email or are only hearing her voice through a computer speaker. It has become this sentimental thing, but really her words and voice are removed by not only distance, but the technology which conveys them.
Hillary, I like that you highlighted the more positive aspects of technology. The fact that it allows people to be intimately connected over long distance is, I think, one of the greatest achievements of technology. It is too easy (for me at least) to look at so much of technology as useless, silly, and distracting, but it is true that for people who are separated, it can be so valuable. With a girlfriend who has been overseas for the past few months, I have experienced this directly, and have been thankful for it. It's strange to think about times in which people could leave a place, and have no way of communicating with those they've left. Technology does a good job of shrinking the world, and making physical distances seem smaller. This goes not only for electronic communications but also for transportation. For how much of human history would people have scoffed at you if you told them you could go almost anywhere in the world within 24 hours...by FLYING nonetheless! It's totally absurd! Yet it's one of the other advantages that technology has brought to us and that it's easy to overlook and take for granted.
ReplyDeleteOur minds can fill in the gap of distance when we have a Skype conversation with someone on the otherwise of the country or the planet. These conversations are a like a dream or vision enabled by technology. Your videos convey that.
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