Week 9: Wired
In a time when we are relying on technology more than ever, it’s hard to imagine a quarantined world before the internet. We are both lucky to receive and plagued by a stream of constant information, a tool which brings us together while dividing us simultaneously. Families, friends, and separated lovers seek each other through screens. As much changes around the world, our need for connection remains.
Curated by Pam Marlene Taylor and Kaylan Buteyn.
Click photos below to see more detail.
How is technology helping you through quarantine and what voids is it not able to fill?
Suzanne Schireson: Technology creates so much access but overwhelms with options; I open my computer and find a million tabs left open. My favorite part of the day lately is when I follow my daughter around the block. She just started to walk and it’s a relief to let her lead. We inspect puddles, a piece of foil, whatever weaves its way into our path.
Zoe Freney: I am very lucky in that my family has access to reliable internet and devices to continue working and schooling from home during the social isolation period. However, this also means I have to be inventive to limit all of our screen time. I admit I haven’t really resorted to playing Twister yet!
Yu-Chen Chiu: I was not a social media person, but after the pandemic happens, people seem to be more calm and genuine about themselves, this also carries over to the Internet world, so I started to say hi to the online world again. The technology such as Zoom and Instagram Live also helps shy people like me, who can be more comfortable expressing myself and connect to others throughout this tough time. However, there’s still something that can’t be replaced, which is the sense of touch. What I miss a lot is to sit in the meadow, feel the touch of the sun, the wind, and people.
Maggie Sanger: Technology has helped me stay connected to friends and family during quarantine but nothing can replace human contact and connections. I end calls and facetime videos feeling unsatisfied and isolated again.
Alice Stone-Collins: While I appreciate technology for allowing me to stay in contact with friends and family, I feel that in many ways it brings out the worst parts of my personality. As someone who likes to have a plan, know the answers, and feel prepared, all the contrasting opinions, recommendations and advice during this time have me feeling overwhelmed and unsure of anything outside the four walls of my home. The only way I can combat this is to shut my computer. Put my phone down and disconnect. And pay attention to what I can control.
Anna Ogier-Bloomer: Technology is allowing my employer, a four-year art and design school in Chicago, to continue to operate. It is keeping my husband and me employed. It is allowing my daughter’s school to continue to operate, albeit in a highly diminished way. These are all good things, considering. But technology is draining me physically, mentally, and emotionally in a way that taking the train to an office every day and talking to lots of people did not. It makes my 6-year old feel self-conscious yet invisible when trying to use it to either learn or connect with friends, so we’ve decided not to use it much for either purpose. I don’t call my mother on FaceTime anymore; it feels almost more intimate and real to just have a phone call. That way we can focus on each other without being distracted by our own images. I’m grateful for this technology that has allowed us to maintain our livelihoods, but I will be glad when I no longer have to use it for our daily lives to operate.