ON LONGING
"The body is the primary mode of perceiving scale." -Susan Stewart
I always tell myself that what I see when I look in the mirror is completely different from what everyone else see when they see me. I have always been insecure of my right arm (I was injured at birth, which caused it to forever be shorter than my left arm, and it is constantly bent at the elbow). I remember posting this photo on Instagram to show what I had always hid. In every single photo on my account, I hide that arm because I hate how it looks. I was so nervous about posting it, but afterwards I read the comments everyone posted and saw how they perceived it in a positive way. I have always been insecure about my weight as well, and constantly look at this photo to remember how fit and athletic I used to be, dreaming of one day looking like that again. People always tell me I still look fine and that I am crazy for thinking I am not skinny.
"Capacity of objects to serve as traces of authentic experience." -Susan Stewart
These were the best cannolis I had ever consumed. I got them from an Italian restaurant in Gainesville. Although they were not directly from Italy itself, they were still amazing, it was nice to experience a little piece of Italian culture. I have always thought of food as an object that contains traces of authentic culture. You do not get the full experience of being in the country itself and everything, but you get to experience traces of what people from that culture consume on a daily basis.
"The souvenir reduces the public, the monumental, and the three dimensional into the miniature, that which can be enveloped by the body." -Susan Stewart.
The first thing I think of when I read this quote are all the photos and videos people take. It is literally a two-dimensional souvenir. It is not something we can physically hold (unless its printed of course) or hop into to experience again, but we can view it. It fully envelops the body by giving us the rush of happiness and nostalgia from the good memories that came with the digital souvenir. I chose this video of my sister and I at a duck pond in the Georgia. It reduces the three-dimensional aspects into a two-dimensional video that I can experience again and again.
"To have a souvenir of the exotic is to possess both a specimen and a trophy." -Susan Stewart
I could not find a picture of a souvenir that I have from this trip, but here is a picture of me enjoying the crystal clear water of the exotic Virgin Islands. Souvenirs are trophies because it almost like a symbol of accomplishment. For example, my life goal is travel the world. Having a souvenir from each country I travel to would be like trophies of success and a way to mark off the places I have been to.
"...The nostalgic input of the handmade in a plastic world."-Susan Stewart
Art stands out. It is handmade and is literally placed into a world of plastic (boring, plain). It gives people something to think about, discuss about, and sometimes give them a feeling of nostalgia as they think of a relatable memory.
I always tell myself that what I see when I look in the mirror is completely different from what everyone else see when they see me. I have always been insecure of my right arm (I was injured at birth, which caused it to forever be shorter than my left arm, and it is constantly bent at the elbow). I remember posting this photo on Instagram to show what I had always hid. In every single photo on my account, I hide that arm because I hate how it looks. I was so nervous about posting it, but afterwards I read the comments everyone posted and saw how they perceived it in a positive way. I have always been insecure about my weight as well, and constantly look at this photo to remember how fit and athletic I used to be, dreaming of one day looking like that again. People always tell me I still look fine and that I am crazy for thinking I am not skinny.
"Capacity of objects to serve as traces of authentic experience." -Susan Stewart
These were the best cannolis I had ever consumed. I got them from an Italian restaurant in Gainesville. Although they were not directly from Italy itself, they were still amazing, it was nice to experience a little piece of Italian culture. I have always thought of food as an object that contains traces of authentic culture. You do not get the full experience of being in the country itself and everything, but you get to experience traces of what people from that culture consume on a daily basis.
"The souvenir reduces the public, the monumental, and the three dimensional into the miniature, that which can be enveloped by the body." -Susan Stewart.
"To have a souvenir of the exotic is to possess both a specimen and a trophy." -Susan Stewart
I could not find a picture of a souvenir that I have from this trip, but here is a picture of me enjoying the crystal clear water of the exotic Virgin Islands. Souvenirs are trophies because it almost like a symbol of accomplishment. For example, my life goal is travel the world. Having a souvenir from each country I travel to would be like trophies of success and a way to mark off the places I have been to.
"...The nostalgic input of the handmade in a plastic world."-Susan Stewart
Art stands out. It is handmade and is literally placed into a world of plastic (boring, plain). It gives people something to think about, discuss about, and sometimes give them a feeling of nostalgia as they think of a relatable memory.
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