We need to talk…
“We need to talk…” is in part, a manifesto, adopting missing image icons all over the web as protest mark. The aim is to re-think how we engage with online art and design content, using the internet as a resource rather than a means to an end.
Before the online phenomenon of blogging took off, a similar activity took place in a different environment, one that still takes place today. Magazines, postcards and other gathered material are cut or torn out and stuck onto walls of bedrooms alongside personal drawings, quotes and notes. A truly personal collection; a curated space. John Berger cited that these spaces were a logical replacement for museums, however something was lost when this idea was transferred to the world wide web. The exciting part, is the spontaneous interaction and therefore genuine dialogue that occurs in that space. Something that does not exist online. Nicolas Bourriaud suggests in his book ‘Relational Aesthetics’ that we are loosing any areas of genuine social interactions that are not based on commerce.
“We need to talk…” proposes a re-introduction of such interaction, not by condemning the online world but by creating new ways to use this gathered content.
