Postcards from Isolation: Digital Artefacts from the Lockdown Time. Issue 1 (28th December 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: WOJNAROWSKA, ANNA
• Is Part Of: Conference proceedings. Issue 1(2020)
• Page Start: 323
• Page End: 323
• Publication Date: 2020-12-28
• Subjects: digital artefacts -- isolation -- islands; Ethnology -- Congresses; 306.3
• DOI: 10.1111/epic.12042
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1559-890X

Abstract

Abstract : 'Postcards from Isolation' is a collection of collaborative & interactive experiences that represent the shifts caused by the COVID‐19 pandemic. The origins of the project lie in a reflection on the deeper social, cultural and economical impact of being in isolation. Drawing on ethnographic accounts (Malinowski, Mead), we studied how the context of being isolated these days corresponds to the uniqueness of geographical islands ‐ spaces that enforce a different connection to land and its resources; and ones that lead to unique cultural patterns. Drawing on that metaphor, we explored to what extent we, as individuals, may be evolving into symbolic islands of our own, driven by similar powers, at a scale unlike before. What can we learn from that? How can we visualise these shifts for others to remember? The non profit project was self‐initiated by a group of cross disciplinary HCD colleagues. The website (isolation.is) currently holds 15 Postcards that represent shifts most important to its contributors. This pecha kucha tells a story of how Postcards became (1) a platform that allows for a rich understanding of how the COVID pandemic is shifting our lives; (2) a living repository of digital artefacts that can be studied like any other piece of material culture; and (3) a collection of digital drawings that are an important asset in any anthropologists' notebook (Taussig).