*This was an essay I wrote for seminar class I decided to share it here*
When understanding what a home means, one must understand where this home is and to whom it belongs. What remains when we think about the places where we grew up and the kind of nostalgia we long for is a critical piece of information when considering one’s upbringing. Nostalgia is often thought to be the romanticization or longing for another time, however, layers of context must be revealed to address whether or not the longing was for the time or perhaps the people. The relationship between memory, art, and one’s home can be a powerful device that can be often misunderstood. Many artists capture this feeling of longing which can often be mistaken for yearning. Whether it’s for a different time or simply not longing for the place itself, but for the memories and people one could have met in those spaces. Space is an abstract term for an intricate set of views. The idea of nostalgia varies from culture to generation. Geography, space, and time all play essential roles in the building of an individual and their eventual core memories.
What is it that attracts people to live where they do? Is it the neighborhood or the home they selected, or was it the geography? Often when individuals chose to live in residential neighborhoods their living preferences can be linked to particular regional cultures or lifestyle groups. Defining what one has access to outlines their economic capital and how it may have an impact on where a person chooses to settle down. More cultural factors may also have a significant impact on why one may feel they belong in an urban environment. When attempting to understand the distinctive culture of a local neighborhood, it may be instructive to pay close attention to those who feel that they do not fit into the community and who, in some way or another, may come to believe that they have chosen the incorrect residential neighborhood.
One’s upbringing is completely individual. When taking into consideration what makes it so personal, factors such as hometown, geography, political climate, and social status are often discussed. French sociologist Marcel Mauss asserts that a distinct individuality is representative of one’s own culture. This is supported by his analysis of the entire social phenomenon, whose interpretation must take into account both all potential perceptions of it as well as all of its discontinuous aspects. Any one of which (family, technical, or economic) could serve as the sole basis for this analysis. The experience of the existing cultural fact is doubly concrete as it includes both the experience of a human in a society that is precisely positioned in time and space and the experience of a specific member of that society. But this person is not just any person; they are known to themselves by themselves and only themselves.
Childhood homes play a massive role in the developmental years of a child. A common case of false security is Florence Nightingale and her upbringing. Nightingale was raised in a wealthy household with access to nearly everything she could need. What she lacked was the emotional conscientiousness that could be provided by a “home”. The Nightingales were situated as a wealthy, anchored family with “classical tastes”, and connections to beneficiaries. While Nightingale was lucky enough to grow up in these physically sophisticated confines, what was lacking was the emotionally comforting responses from those around her. The notion that either bridges or separates the idea of a house and a home is different for everyone but it's necessary to understand the means that surround it because, “A house and a home are not the same. A house is part of the material structure of society, whereas a home is a phenomenon made by its residents.”.
As we grow older, we have come to desire a time that is much more simple than the life we currently live. A life without structure, a life without responsibility. We take these memories for what they can offer us now-whether or not they will continue to serve us. Childhood homes are powerful entities that are entirely personal to the beholder. Every experience held within the home is individual and unique. Memory is an impactful tool that greatly alters the way life and the way environment is perceived. For example, anyone born after the year 1999 will most likely not remember a time without electronic devices. Those born in the 00s and up would be anxious to buy the newest generation of electronic devices. As opposed to those born generations before, would be more shocked and apprehensive of technological advancements and may prefer analog to digital styles of work. Adults tend to use the phrase “back in my day” to preface anything that has to do with their upbringing. They discuss how kids are so lucky now, but in reality, it isn’t luck at all as much as it is time that is rapidly evolving and there is a need to adapt.
When considering the term experience and its effects on an individual, the focus of the experience is directed at the outside world. Precise vision and thought extend beyond the self and is projected onto one’s words and actions. More questions surround feeling. Though it is a very peculiar intentionality that, on one hand, specifies characteristics sensed through objects, people, and the world, while on the other hand, demonstrates and begins to reveal the manner in which the self is inwardly impacted. An intention and its eventual lasting effect meet in the same experience. Experience is often spoken in a passive sense; the word implies that a person has gone through or endured substantial amounts within a period of time. A person with experience is one who has encountered a lot. Experience entails the capacity to draw lessons from one's life and its lessons. Experience is acting on what is given and making something new from it. The given itself cannot be known.
Humans by nature input value in speaking and thinking theoretically about the past. It's one of the only ways individuals in the modern age can deem a sense of connection to the past and recollect on progress made. Besides physical documents like primary and secondary texts, historical artifacts, art pieces, or videos, spoken word is the only way humans can relive the memories time and time again through the hard work of their predecessors. In October of 2022, climate change protesters defaced famous artworks using food like mashed potatoes and soup in protest to gain attention from a wider audience. Although the artworks were protected behind a glass sheet and the protestors argue that they were aware that the soup would not cause any harm to the artwork, it still raises questions of whether or not the memory of this painting will be tainted by these events. In the days following the event, the debate grew about whether it made sense to deface great works of art as a way to draw attention to impending ecological catastrophe, even if temporarily or for a subjectively good reason. Instead of remaining focused on the reason for the protest itself, people are more concerned with the preservation of history. The act of preserving the past and keeping art the way that it was makes it appear to be of greater importance. Svetlana Boym comments on restorative nostalgia by stating that “Restorative nostalgia does not think of itself as nostalgia, but rather as truth and tradition. Reflective nostalgia dwells on the ambivalences of human longing and belonging and does not shy away from the contradictions of modernity. Restorative nostalgia protects the absolute truth,...”. The spectators of this protest appear to be concerned with the memory of these art pieces and the cultural significance they hold. Once the composition becomes distorted past the point of recognition, that is when restorative nostalgia takes its form.
What happens when the people, the noises, and any sense of life are gone from a room? Environments that lack these common elements have been labeled as “liminal spaces”. As a compliment to Boym’s previous notion of restorative nostalgia, Boym speaks about the concept of something called reflective nostalgia. This simply refers to feeling wistful for a time that was once very present in one's life. The concept of liminal spaces encapsulates Boym’s idea of reflective nostalgia and pushes it into a physical form. Liminal spaces are areas that are utilized in a period of transition. Liminal spaces can be physical places like a hallway or room or immaterial mind spaces like the feelings experienced when moving to a new house or to a new job. As soon as one can navigate the space and the anxious feelings attached, these places can be transformed into a realm of potential.
These thresholds are veiled with a layer of yearning. When gazing upon these liminal spaces we can begin to come to terms with the feelings we might have felt when present in a certain mental space or even physical space. However, all of these spaces will have a different impact based on one’s own personal experience with them. Being a child in the early 2000s meant growing up in an environment that relied heavily on capitalism and the development of electronics. This created a certain unreplicable childhood experience that can be detached from generations prior. Children's libraries and outdoor playscapes are both places where children are supposed to learn and grow. Seeing the juxtaposed emptiness of human presence in these places feels strange, dreamlike, and maybe even mournful. They begin to tap into what Boym speaks about when she discusses reflective nostalgia, “...longing for a place, but it is actually a yearning for a different time-the time of our childhood, the slower rhythms of our dreams.”.
When recollecting a memory, are the people who might have made the memory important present? When thinking about a memory that has happened in the past, often it can be the people in the memory that impacts its vividness. Because a liminal space is something one wouldn’t always pay attention to, it can seem unsettling because it hones in on desolation and loneliness. The depth doesn’t necessarily come from the images themselves, but from the thoughts that are provoked when encountering a place that is focusing on something that was made to be ignored. A liminal space wasn’t designed to be a space observed by people. They exist to transport people from one place to another, like hallways or bathrooms. Much like our adolescent years, we live through them, not with the purpose to be closely watched and cherished but to learning the principles of how to simply become a human. When an individual experiences their adolescent years, they are in their most vulnerable state of mind. They begin to learn and gain basic knowledge of the world around them. When we as adults encounter spaces that remind us much of what those times were like, we are placed back in the shoes of our adolescent selves.
The artwork of Joshua Flint demonstrates memory and points of experience and interpretation of the relationship between the two. His paintings materialize depictions of memories of one who looks deep into their mind's eye. Every painting demonstrates a search for a memory that is on the brink of expiration. Each artwork has an unusual property in the way that the scenes look collaged together. There is a direct correlation between experience and interpretation. Flint exhibits this dynamic relationship by disguising real-world elements and scenes alongside figures of people or places that wouldn’t normally coexist in the environment.
Nostalgia is a powerful tool that has the ability to paralyze the beholder as easily as it can soothe. The power of one’s upbringing is undoubtedly a major factor when considering in what way the past could be perceived. This has been proven time and time again through the works of art, literature, and the physical environment. It is a tool that can be used as an escape when the far is no longer near. What makes us so desirous of what was or what could have been, stands as a challenge to understand.
A liminal space
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