Thursday Topic 9/10

Nostalgia

"The world is full of people whose notion of a satisfactory future is, in fact, a return to the idealized past". Robertson Davies

I read a book a while back called Fear Itself by Rush W. Dozier that was about the brain and how it functioned in relations to fear. There was a part in the book that talked about memories and how the brain determines which ones will later be associated with fearful situations. At the time I didn't pay to much attention to that section, but after coming my old toys and Dr. Seuss books (and considering incorporating that aspect into my work) I revisited the issue.

When someone thinks of the word "nostalgia" that typically imagine happy times, sometimes their own and sometimes those that society deems "normal", like a parent pushing you on a swingset or a big family dinner with everyone laughing. I picture those things, but when I stop and think about it, those people in the images aren't my family, they are a prefabricated "perfect" family (one who, in case Evan is reading this, is white).

To bring a long, complicated idea to an end, I found this aspect of nostalgia to be a link to the "identity" issue that I have previously dealt with in my work. I am now SERIOUSLY considering using these two ideas in my portfolio project...though I'm still not there yet. (Sorry Paul...)