Memory Objectification
/ Abstract
/ Introduction
/ Contextual Review
/ Attachments to Objects
/ Storytelling in Objects
/ Digitalisation of Collections
/ Methods Overview
/ Memory Objectification
/ Conclusion
/ Bibliography
In this modern world it’s hard to not interact with technology due to the interwoven relationship it has with society and systems. Nearly everyone I know has a technological device of some form, either a phone, laptop, or surface device like an iPad. With the rising costs of technology paired with the heightened cost of living after the pandemic, I have noticed a trend of younger adults reverting back to older “simpler” technology like corded headphones over Bluetooth or reaching for the analogue forms all together, like record players or communicating by letter, after rummaging through their parents or grandparents’ storage containers. Is there too much technology now that analogue has become the new ‘escape from reality’?
Technological advancements and innovation are driven by society that in turn impacts cultural and societal norms that each have analogue components like artifacts, physical behaviours alongside intangible elements of beliefs, traditions and languages (Alsaleh, 2024). Technology is advantageous but it is normalising the overconsumption of technology to the point of impacting intellectual capacities, erasing cultures’ intricacy, upturning social economic and political standpoints alongside producing a stupendous amount of harmful misinformation. It’s hard to not desire the slower, quieter paths of analogue methodologies. However, as posed by Suneel Jethani, “New Analogue cannot be considered without digitality.” (2026), it highlights the question of where would we be today if not due to technological innovations? How will the analogue artifacts of our current, past and future be maintained if not with the assistance of technology with its forms and methods?
This research paper focuses on the key points of ‘Attachments to Objects’, ‘Storytelling in Objects’ and ‘Digitalisation of Collections’, to highlight and show audiences the importance of valuing human connections, emotion-based relationships and explore how memories can be objectified by looking into curated collections of personal objects of bestowed value with related metadata and institutional level cataloguing. As a visual communicator I believe that it is up to us to continue to highlight the importance of keeping analogue technologies and processes alive throughout design and society as AI continuously is utilised, pushing boundaries on moral and ethical levels. The most human thing society can continue to be, against AI and suffocating technologies, is human – creative, thoughtful, sentimental, and most importantly, experienced. It’s life experiences and memories that allow us to grow and develop with values, morals, and authenticity. It’s these tools, with assistance from technology, that will keep analogue methodologies alive and value in object collections.
Under very strict design boundaries, technology will be used in combination of analogue methodologies, materials and objects to get audiences curious enough to explore the object metadata in the collection of personal objects gathered through conducted analogue method-based workshops. Backed by my own sentimentalities to objects and memories, paired with studio experiments of media forms, scholarly articles across design, psychology, and museum systems, I aim to impact audiences, so they reflect and remember to value their own loved ones in life’s moments, as nothing lasts forever, before they too become a memory objectified on a shelf.
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