I settled upon the theme for my personal promotion design while I was on a plane ride about a month ago. From that point on, the business cards were printed and stamps were made in two days, the blog is now redesigned (and migrated), and I’m working full speed on my portfolio. Other stationaries to come.
First thing first,
It took me a while to sum up my thoughts and finally conclude my own learning about the piece XLIEUX – an interactive installation art piece by the very talented Wendy Tai, in collaboration with myself. (more…)
Today, I thought I have lost all of my archived projects between 2004 and 2008 forever. The external hard disk that stores them stopped working few days ago. Spent hours trying to look for a backup of that hard disk, which I was quite sure I have, only to find that the backup file of that hard disk appears to be blank in my restoration program…
Between 2004-2008 I started and completed my studies at UCLA. All my essays, artworks, designs, programs etc. were there. Beyond their practical values, there was a high degree of sentimental values as well. The thought of them lost forever worried me.
In my short life, I have had quite a few things of sentimental values that I kept. Over the years, many of them have gone missing (or I have stopped looking them up). In a way I felt completely OK about it. They were tangible physical stuff. They could be lost, but they’re only sitting dustily in dark corners, behind piled up excessive objects, carrying my memory, awaiting to be rediscovered. With digital contents, however, they could be as lost as ‘yesterday’.
Somehow, it seems to be such a tragedy to have lost something of sentimental value. I believe, deep inside our heads, we are all dreaming of that one day when we’re old and not good for many things anymore, we would be sitting on the edge of our beds, pulling out that one old tin box, opening it, and going through the items inside, comforting ourselves with the evidence that we have actually lived. Then, after we leave this world, people who love us would be able to piece our lives together again by going through our belongings. A book may even be written, or a movie, or something. They need this old tin box for their inspirations. Maybe that’s why I’ve always thought that that box is pretty high up on my list of things to grab when the house is on fire.
With the amount of information and materials possessed by an individual today, it is unlikely that the evidence of our lives could be fit into too small of a box. My digital life could hardly fit into my four 500Gs (when I bought my first of them, I thought I’d never need a second); and my physical life, well, let’s say I have some elimination to do.
By the end, I hope that there’re only very limited things that are associated with me. I do not intend to leave behind a whole lot of things that are completely meaningless to my family. As for digital things, considering the way technology is going, it seems quite possible that at the end of my life, they’ll all JUST fit into a small box.
p.s. Luckily, I got the files back, just as the day concludes at mid-night.
blog of Joe cz Liao