I was recently rewatching The Grand Budapest Hotel. (Spoiler Warning) In the end when the Author asks why he kept such an unprofitable building that is in ruins and if it had anything to do with his relationship with Gustave and his "world". He disagrees and replies saying "to be frank, I think his world vanished long before he ever entered it". On my 10th time watching it this hit home for the first time. As a designer or a creative in general I'm often living through the lens of a by gone era, things that happened before I was even alive. Always toeing the line of wanting to be inspired by the past but bringing it into the present to develop a better future.
The irony of the past is the lies of nostalgia and idealism. People are often surprised that I'm not one that wishes to live in the past considering I so heavily immerse myself in researching dated culture. I recall when I was younger having hot summer days with mates where everyone would complain about how the holidays were going "this summer hasn't been as good as last", this happened a few consecutive years in a row before I noticed a pattern. Every year we were complaining yet romanticising the previous where we were making the same comments. I realised how our memory distorts our perception, removing the boring moments replaying a highlight reel in your own mind.
In a similar way our relationship with past decades is the same. My parents went to Italy this year where they saw our cousins. They returned with a USB stick from our relatives with camcorder footage of when they came to Australia in the 90s. Because they weren't sure if they would ever come back they filmed everything. All of the extended families old houses with a walkthrough of every single room. How often would you get up and film every room in your own house now, it seems so unnecessary but now as a relic this film was pretty special to watch. Again this footage only holds value now in hindsight. There was nothing particularly special about the moments captured but the context of nostalgia. Regardless most often when we are reflecting on history it has been edited to be the most interesting version, again warping our perspective.
This idea that the past was better I refuse to believe. You can take your favourite aspects of each decade from the past 100 years and bring them back into reality now. Something like overuse of technology can be a burden but it also can be productive. I owe my career to social media, not only for distribution but my access to information and research. With discipline and individuality we can still indulge in traditions of the past while still leveraging the luxuries of the present. We can put our phones down and wander, we can dress in a suit and tie, we can play cards or sports at the park, we can carry cash in our wallet.
Utilise Nostalgia and Idealism to enrich your life not restrict it.
My world in the physical is definitely long vanished but I choose to uphold and immerse myself in the life I want to live.
- Simon
