A journey into my own Nostalgia
In the first week I became instantly interested in Emily’s own Nostalgia as a topic when discussing modernity. I began to think how feelings of nostalgia and referring to the past formed our present. When comparing generations we always go back to ‘well, in my day’ and bring up our own references which enhance the gap between us, generations before and generations younger than ours.
I began research on the topic of digital culture and where I see some issues that have been brought on by the economy infiltrating our self actualization, social life and therefore the way we identify people and ultimately belong. I feel as though the digital culture at present bypasses the economy itself and it’s fast pace non- committal trends are not allowing us to form subcultures. I began to wonder if this would make a negative impact to society and how the human population interacts.
When discussing videos and blog posts with fellow Zone 5ers; Munebb and George, I began to question where all my questions had come from. Why did I see this as an issue? What actually will the death of subcultures do to society? Why did I feel so passionate about it? We began to discuss the boundaries in which technology can cross. They all were different from person to person, based on their past, family type, social group, where they have grown up and the experiences they have had. We began to conclude that our modernity is based on our own nostalgia; our own reference point.
In the discussion I was asked what my sub-cultures are. I began to list the many cultures I felt I belonged to at one time. I concluded that the value i put on them was based on my past and the area and community I grew up in. Thamesmead, my hometown has always been very important to me. My family home has moved many times and my family structure changed wildly throughout my life, so I look back to the one time in my life that was stable, where I grew and where all my values have come from.
This place is Thamesmead. I knew instantly that I had to go back and in the words of Joel in the workshop ‘I’ve got to do, what I’ve got to do’. And that's that, I decided to make the pilgrimage home. I long to find my modernity by revelling in my own Nostalgia. I longed to find out what my architectural priorities are, by studying my background and the systems that shaped my upbringing.