Noztalgia... has a utopian dimension, only it is no longer directed towards the future. Sometimes it is not directed towards the past either, but rather sideways. The nostalgic feels stifled within conventional confines of space and time.
The NOZTALGIA project began early in 2019 when we all met at Mark's home in Sydney's east. In exploring the topic, we decided to avoid the grandiose and focus on the humble: to reveal our emotional affinity with aging objects found in Oz, paying homage to the role they once played (and still play... in a sense) in our lives. The thinking of artist and media philosopher Svetlana Boym (1966-2015) has been influential. In "The Future of Nostalgia" Boym says "Unlike melancholia, which confines itself to the planes of individual consciousness, nostalgia is about the relationship between individual biography and the biography of groups or nations, between personal and collective memory. Nostalgia... has a utopian dimension, only it is no longer directed towards the future. Sometimes it is not directed towards the past either, but rather sideways. The nostalgic feels stifled within conventional confines of space and time."
Time spares nothing and no-one. Stuff moves on. The still image is a static object torn from the maelstrom of life. The graceful photograph allows us to pause and contemplate a phase in this movement, instead of simply being caught up in it and swept along by it unconsciously.
Lynn Smith
The NOZTALGIA project began early in 2019 when we all met at Mark's home in Sydney's east. In exploring the topic, we decided to avoid the grandiose and focus on the humble: to reveal our emotional affinity with aging objects found in Oz, paying homage to the role they once played (and still play... in a sense) in our lives. The thinking of artist and media philosopher Svetlana Boym (1966-2015) has been influential. In "The Future of Nostalgia" Boym says "Unlike melancholia, which confines itself to the planes of individual consciousness, nostalgia is about the relationship between individual biography and the biography of groups or nations, between personal and collective memory. Nostalgia... has a utopian dimension, only it is no longer directed towards the future. Sometimes it is not directed towards the past either, but rather sideways. The nostalgic feels stifled within conventional confines of space and time."
Time spares nothing and no-one. Stuff moves on. The still image is a static object torn from the maelstrom of life. The graceful photograph allows us to pause and contemplate a phase in this movement, instead of simply being caught up in it and swept along by it unconsciously.
Lynn Smith
