Nosedive
Sunday, November 18, 2018
Just this very moment(TWO MONTHS AGO FROM TODAY), I just finished watching something so powerful, and so emotional, that I had to talk about it, especially as it correlated so much to my life, and with our current day and age, and the lives of others. Let me take you back a bit.
For one of my electives this semester, I took a digital writing class. When I first started college I went to school for writing actually. And its still something I like to do a lot- especially for my blog. But unfortunately, people don't really read anymore, or write. They just like pictures, and that's the reality of our age. We consume media and decide wether we like it or not. And if we do "like it," or "love it," we double tap that red heart or blue thumbs up symbol.
Two things really made me want to address this is a post: 1. pop-up culture here in NYC 2. Black Mirror, Season 3, Episode 1, called Nosedive which is available on Netflix.
As a native, I regularly attend pretty much every single pop-up NYC's ever had. From shit like an EggHouse, to a "Rose Mansion," 29rooms, (which all weren't technically rooms), to some over hyped photo of ONE room on view at the Museum of Natural history, one thing is for sure. PEOPLE LOVE A GOOD PHOTO OP, or anything that will prove to be a good photo opp. We want great pictures- we all just want to be liked.
So people will pay anything from $20- to $130 just to go to a "pop-up" experience , just to get pictures to show off their lives in that specific moment , for that specific time. As a native, I remember when these weren't even a thing. I would regularly attend empty art galleries in Chelsea, and spend quiet afternoons alone walking up the Highline, and walking into through all those glass doors to see art- for free. Some of it was completely non-comprehensible , some of it was kindergarten scribble, and some, extremely thought provoking. Art ultimately makes you feel... Pop-ups... make you like.
Recently I got a job at a pop-up that I will not disclose. But it's made me not want to go to any ever again. The best way to market art should not be to deem it a photo op, yet in doing so it works so well. Yes I have gone to all these pop-ups, but I never go with the intention of solely going for an Instagram photo. Yes things that look mesmerizing and out of the ordinary attract my eye, but I refuse to be apart of the over-saturated trend of pop-up photos to gain popularity. I go because its a temporary experience- one that I want to be apart of. To say I went and saw and experienced. Not went to yell at my significant other for not knowing my angles or telling my kids I'm not purchasing tickets until I see what the ball pit looks like. The past few weeks I've felt overjoyed at seeing how happy taking a great photo of someone else makes them feel, but I've also seen a great many death stares for a billion pictures that don't make the grid.
So going on to the episode of Nosedive- it was fucking creepy. So creepy because I can 100% picture this being the immediate future. "Rating" someone just to get a rating back. Trying to make your life as picture perfect as you make it seem on the app. People portraying themselves online one way and acting the complete opposite in person. People just want to be liked. But do we need a phone screen and some oversaturated posed photos to achieve that?
Let that last question sink in...
Outfit deets:
Cropped Pullover: The Ragged Priest
Sick cutout jeans: The Ragged Priest
If you have any other thoughts or comments to contribute to this post you can drop it low in the comments below. Nobody ever does, but I can imagine getting a few DMS about this already.
Just a disclaimer- I don't mean to insult anybody and know people/ have friends that are very successful from promoting noteworthy art experiences and have credentials/ a name for doing so. But then theres the others that see it online and race to these locations and won't credit artist or have ANY idea who they are , or even read the backstories. They just aren't informed or care enough to be informed. They just want a photo and idk it just makes me feel a certain type of way to clearly want to write about it.
Photos by @royal.youths
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