The tragicomedies of modern life
Let's work together!
I would like to start saying that, if you are like me, as possible as it is not, some of the arguments you just proposed, explore topics such as the role of the women, men, young and old people in society; diversity, language and of course technology. Those are the topics we are constantly thinking about because they have an influence on our daily lives.
The illustrations, made by the artist Jean Jullien, show us a perspective or representation of those topics. They make visible the irony that lies beneath our society, our behaviors, our thoughts and ways to interact. We are no longer inhabiting just physical or mental spaces because we are already part of the virtual ones; we are being without a body, we are alone while we are together, we are speaking without moving our mouths while our fingers are becoming day by day faster and more intelligent. Yes, we have been transforming our minds but not as fast as we transform our physical worlds.
Then, what do all the images have in common? Apart from talking about technology, they show how particular our ways to establish and maintain our social relationships are. They arouse so many questions: when the comic turns into tragic and vice-versa? We certainly continue asking ourselves that question. Are those changes negative or positive? Do we have to categorize them using those labels? What is next?
Here you will find the links to some articles and an interview with the artist:
Interview
La ironía de las relaciones humanas en la era digital es ilustrada por Jean Jullien
La loca tragicomedia de la vida moderna, en 25 viñetas
"C’est un peu plus cruel sur certains aspects que ce que je fais d’habitude mais ce n’est en aucun cas une complainte contre les téléphones portables ou les réseaux sociaux: je suis le premier à les utiliser!"
Jean Jullien
Try to do the next exercise without reading the paragraphs of this post or any other page.
(You can write and share your answers and opinions in the comment part)
Step one: imagine you are a writer of a cultural magazine
Step two: the editor in chief asks you to do an article using the following illustrations:
Step three: ask yourself what all those images have in common.
As if by magic, the name of the article pops into your mind: "the tragicomedies of modern life". So, to start writing the article, you decide to write de arguments you will possibly develop according to the illustrations and the title.
Step four: Now, you ask yourself the following questions:
1. What do you think about the images?
2. Do you identify yourself with any of them?
3. Do you think the images exaggerate the situations or they really represent some of our current behaviors?
Thanks a lot for your participation!
Now, let's get into the second part of the post.
The illustrations, made by the artist Jean Jullien, show us a perspective or representation of those topics. They make visible the irony that lies beneath our society, our behaviors, our thoughts and ways to interact. We are no longer inhabiting just physical or mental spaces because we are already part of the virtual ones; we are being without a body, we are alone while we are together, we are speaking without moving our mouths while our fingers are becoming day by day faster and more intelligent. Yes, we have been transforming our minds but not as fast as we transform our physical worlds.
Then, what do all the images have in common? Apart from talking about technology, they show how particular our ways to establish and maintain our social relationships are. They arouse so many questions: when the comic turns into tragic and vice-versa? We certainly continue asking ourselves that question. Are those changes negative or positive? Do we have to categorize them using those labels? What is next?
Here you will find the links to some articles and an interview with the artist:
Interview
La ironía de las relaciones humanas en la era digital es ilustrada por Jean Jullien
La loca tragicomedia de la vida moderna, en 25 viñetas
I found your post really interesting. You made me think about social media and how these sites were created as a mean for approaching people and connecting them. However, one may think that social media is doing completely the opposite; disconnecting people and harming social relationships. Nowadays, our lives are being controlled by social media, we are constantly looking at our phones, checking facebook, twitter, Instagram, while comparing our lives to those we see on our Instagram feeds. Instead of going outside with our family and friends we rather are at home watching other's lives. Nevertheless, I think we do not have to blame social media or technology, because the positive or negative effects of it in our society is up to us: the users. Saxby Darby (2018) posted an article about social isolation in the time of social media, she explains how there are many pieces of research that prove how overusing social media may be causing anxiety and depression in their users.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to check the article, here is the link: https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/home-base/201802/the-social-media-disconnect
Additionally, I would like to recommend you the series Black Mirror, especially Nosedive, this chapter refers to the effects of social media in our lives (obviously, it is a dystopic science fiction series, but I don't think it is too far from reality)