Everything Matters / 01 : Elise By Olsen
Printed Matter and the Written Word in Times of Trouble
‘Everything Matters’ is a year-long editorial experiment to unfold IAM’s research theme for 2020: The Weirdness of Interdependencies from a multidimensional spectrum of perspectives. For this first release, Elise By Olsen shares her self-quarantine thoughts on the role of print media today and tomorrow.
My work within the media machinery usually depends on traveling, global meeting activity and networking — as do so many others. Always on to the next, accelerating at a fast pace and continuously being responsive, whether it’s attending art fairs, fashion weeks or generally being present on the circuit. Ahead, ahead! (Go, go!) On day 14 of my self-quarantine I have been given the opportunity to eke out some of my thoughts and reflections that have culminated in this scenario of ‘staying in’. Rather than a speculation or a self-fulfilling prophecy, this is merely a provisional text on the prospective opportunities that can arise from this ongoing viral pandemic, (apocalyptic) state of emergency and global crisis. Essentially I’m thinking about the multiple possibilities of this current climate to create space for new mindsets and promote critical thinking — how it may change the way we pursue journalism, our ways of consuming information and what impact the written word or printed page could have moving forward. I feel we might be on the threshold of larger change.
New consensus and clarity around the realms of fashion/art/media and their apparatus could be of utmost necessity as the speed, cycles and seasons — the very structures these sectors are built upon — now have been completely interrupted. We are used to being constantly stimulated at all times online and to being exposed to a massive amount of data every day. Whereas the online remains as diffused as always, can this forced stillness — or standstill — help us navigate our offline life and the otherwise saturated and oftentimes overwhelming cultural climate? Can it pose new questions, facilitate new discourse and create new consciousnesses? I think it will be increasingly important to rewrite a healthy collective and critical environment to interact with the actual production and historical positioning of the arts, fashion, etc. within the larger intellectual circulation. Why is this or that so important to discuss, exhibit, preserve? The fact that my generation are slowly being guided into becoming almost non-literate — preferring and prioritizing visual content over text and the written word, and moreover, lacking trust in traditional media — illustrates the need for this aspect to be kept not only alive but approachable and digestible for a younger audience, despite elements of rigour and ‘exclusivity’ that criticism is often associated with. Some form of active resistance is required. In quarantine, we are granted the time and space (if not physical, a site for study, thought and creation) to refine the state of 21st century cultural critique.
In quarantine, we are granted the time and space to refine the state of 21st century cultural critique.
I am, as always, advocating for the printed medium and paper publishing, which in many ways is the ultimate manifestation of many of the values arising amid this pandemic: attention, dedication and patience. What’s the enduring appeal or meaning of materiality, of the physical object, the time capsule, the artifact now? Print media and the values it inhabits have been somewhat neglected in the context of the internet. In my mind, the predicted ‘death of print’ has always been a generational idea — the shock of a media generation that grew up analogue and viewed digitalization as this overpowering threat that they had to give in to. The printed format is inherently reclusive, sensible, immersive; an antidote to short-lived content, click-bait headlines and fast-food journalism on a scroll — formed by the ‘quantity over quality’ mentality that has imprinted the domain of digital media. Printed matter is loaded with collectibility, stackability and longevity which allows us, as readers, to wrestle with our attention span, and for once fully retreat to something substantial. Primitive and authentic material objects you can emotionally and physically connect with; smell, touch and study — with another rhyme and another reason. It can certainly bring an experience with a presence the digital flicker cannot successfully imitate, replicate or translate. During and following this pandemic, it will be interesting to see how people — readers or publishers — will grapple with the printed medium, whether artistically, economically, mythologically, physically, symbolically etc. Space might be carved out in order to accommodate new print projects subverting the creative formulas of print publishing and the notions of traditional media. Will there be a new influx on the newsstand, an upsurgence not only for the printed medium — its tangibility and tactility — but for the accumulation; preservation; archivation of this printed matter? Deposit the never ending scroll. New narratives, new forms of display, new modes of media are on the horizon…
‘Everything Matters’ is a year-long editorial experiment to unfold IAM’s research theme for 2020: The Weirdness of Interdependencies from a multidimensional spectrum of perspectives. If you are interested in contributing an essay, interview, or opinion article, please send your proposal to everything@iam-internet.com.
About the author
Elise By Olsen is a Norwegian editor, curator and publisher working within the realms of art, fashion and media. She founded youth culture magazine Recens Paper at age 13, where she held the position of editor-in-chief until her resignation in 2017. In 2018, she debuted her new fashion commentary publication Wallet, for which she now serves as editor-in-chief. Her concept-based and holistic approach are applied to offer distinctive results within editorial direction, content production and brand strategy. By Olsen is also CEO of executive media group Ecudorp.
Watch her IAM Weekend talks on the future of niche publications (2016) and Nextopia (2017), an alternative attitude to futures.
About IAM
We design alternative learning experiences, tools and platforms to change how the digital economy is changing Everything 🌍
Learn more about our work at IAM-internet.com and read The Everything Manifesto, a collection of thought experiments for the next billion seconds.
