For the maiden Bohemian Cusp blog post I have selected a story found on the May 17th PSFK Good Ideas Report.
"Before I Die I want to" is an artistic, cultural anthropolgy project undertaken through the medium of Polaroid photography. Creators Nicole Kenny and ks rives ask participants "What do you want to do before you die?" Following the query, a Polaroid is snapped as the participant answers. They are then prompted to write their answer on the Polaroid, below their picture.
The project aims to investigate three central themes:
1) The "death" of the Polaroid.
2) A psychologist's tool called safety contracts.
3) A passion to get people to think about (and act upon) what is important in their lives.
Adding a further dimension to this project is the creator's decision to engage participants in both the United States and India. From this, clear cultural differences were found between American and Indian participants, particularly concerning anxieties related to death. In this regard, Indian participants were generally more comfortable with their impending fate than were American. An additional finding was the affect that levels of financial security have upon the participant's "dream." Broadly speaking, the greater the security, the greater the "dream."
Concerning the notion of individuality, this project poses an interesting challenge. Essentially, although we may all have specific desires and goals that we'd like to fulfill prior to our expiration, defining us as seperate sentient beings, the types of goals we might "dream" and the ways in which we "dream" them are determined by much larger class and cultural definitions.
As for me, middle-class, caucasian Canadian male, I characteristically have a general anxiety towards death. Yet, given the sometimes random nature of death, I would like to think I could be comfortable with my life and what I've done at all times, recognizing that in life you can never do everything. Nevertheless, anxiety, and comic avoidance in uncomfortable situations prompts me to, on a completely silly whim, respond with "Before I die, I want to finally finish reading the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, or at least start."
"Before I Die I want to" is an artistic, cultural anthropolgy project undertaken through the medium of Polaroid photography. Creators Nicole Kenny and ks rives ask participants "What do you want to do before you die?" Following the query, a Polaroid is snapped as the participant answers. They are then prompted to write their answer on the Polaroid, below their picture.
The project aims to investigate three central themes:
1) The "death" of the Polaroid.
2) A psychologist's tool called safety contracts.
3) A passion to get people to think about (and act upon) what is important in their lives.
Adding a further dimension to this project is the creator's decision to engage participants in both the United States and India. From this, clear cultural differences were found between American and Indian participants, particularly concerning anxieties related to death. In this regard, Indian participants were generally more comfortable with their impending fate than were American. An additional finding was the affect that levels of financial security have upon the participant's "dream." Broadly speaking, the greater the security, the greater the "dream."
Concerning the notion of individuality, this project poses an interesting challenge. Essentially, although we may all have specific desires and goals that we'd like to fulfill prior to our expiration, defining us as seperate sentient beings, the types of goals we might "dream" and the ways in which we "dream" them are determined by much larger class and cultural definitions.
As for me, middle-class, caucasian Canadian male, I characteristically have a general anxiety towards death. Yet, given the sometimes random nature of death, I would like to think I could be comfortable with my life and what I've done at all times, recognizing that in life you can never do everything. Nevertheless, anxiety, and comic avoidance in uncomfortable situations prompts me to, on a completely silly whim, respond with "Before I die, I want to finally finish reading the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, or at least start."
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