Not that it isn’t impressive and indicative of power of technology today, but my god, who wants to know everything about their life, let alone someone else’s? I am all for seeing beauty in the mundane, but the excessive documenting of everyday happenings seems overwhelming. I would even argue that it could dull the splendor of a moment by losing it in a sea of others. Isn’t the fun of memory in the remembering? We embellish, embroider, dismiss, misinterpret, misremember, and misplace memories because of what is important to us. No doubt with all of my conversations and transactions recorded I could go back and prove my mother wrong on several occasions or tell my friend that they owe me six dollars and twenty three cents. But some things are meant to be forgotten.
Like Bell’s son, I see this project as an egocentric one, but probably the egocentric, eccentric and ebullient nature of Bell’s character is what made him the perfect candidate for this investigation. His exploration into how we can record our pasts and presents will be useful in this age when everything is switching from the physical to the digital. But isn’t something lost in this transformation? I don’t want a picture of my old tee-shirts, my ticket stubs, worn out ballet shoes. I want to keep them in my closet dammit. Seeing and hearing is not the only way to remember. The tactile makes a memory feel more real. Even smell can evoke a moment or place. Of course it would be wonderful to have all my photos organized any way I’d like, to have all my documents in one place. But nothing can replace the real thing or the human touch.
Aren’t we all just a bit egocentric, especially with the rise of internet? Consider sites such as facebook, myspace, youtube and blogs. We are sharing with everyone the thoughts and images of our lives. And we are projecting to them what we want them to see. I put up a picture of me as a kid because I think, “Heck, wasn’t I cute?” And maybe my friends care because it’s interesting to see a snip from the past, but they don’t want to see all my family albums and the rest of the world certainly doesn’t. In conclusion, this type of documenting may have some of the practical uses that Bell mentions, but the reality of knowing every moment of my life seems unnecessary. We are drawn to the idea because of out self-interest, but really, I have enough already.
No comments:
Post a Comment