After the tragic death of a friend of mine, I observed how social media played a role in connecting people in far-flung parts of the country as they grieved together.
In the web 2.0 age, your online persona and connections are every bit a part of your identity as your IRL possessions and relationships. After you die, those digital traces remain for a while, but eventually will fade and be forgotten. How do you translate those traces into a physical object that acts like a memento or urn - activating memory and nostalgia for the survivors.
This machine creates a physical recording of someone's social media activity after they die. It lives with a close friend or family member. As mentions of the deceased are made online, a basin of ink ebbs and flows with the activity. A one-time performance, once the water evaporates, what is left are the rings of pigment marking the activity; a permanent record.
In the web 2.0 age, your online persona and connections are every bit a part of your identity as your IRL possessions and relationships. After you die, those digital traces remain for a while, but eventually will fade and be forgotten. How do you translate those traces into a physical object that acts like a memento or urn - activating memory and nostalgia for the survivors.
This machine creates a physical recording of someone's social media activity after they die. It lives with a close friend or family member. As mentions of the deceased are made online, a basin of ink ebbs and flows with the activity. A one-time performance, once the water evaporates, what is left are the rings of pigment marking the activity; a permanent record.
