I wanna start by saying that I don’t hate digital, or minimalism design. I also don’t hate AI, technology or things that have a futuristic look. I’m by no means a purist when it comes to “analog”. I truly believe that everything has its time and place, but what I have an issue with is this phrase, or variations of it, “this is the future”.
Does the future have to look robotic and lifeless, with no real thought put into the things that are made? Does the future have to look like a society where people stopped enjoying doing things and their only goal is to build things that are easily disposable?
Again, I have no issues with people enjoying things that look “futuristic” such as the Cybertruck, or now the Robotaxi (I’m sorry, but personal opinion, I just think they look horrible, even from a futuristic standpoint). This is not a rant about Elon Musk, as I have no issue with him either (I don’t want this to turn into a controversial post, so please avoid doing it yourself in case you hate the guy). I agree with some things he says, other things not so much, and his idea that the “future” has to look “robotic” and “electronic looking” is where I totally disagree with him. But I digress…
All of this to say that the more I see things being replaced with quick and cheap design that carries no soul, no artistry, nothing, the more I look at things that are still “old school” and love them.
When I say “analog” I mean things that humans actually build using their hands. Tables, paintings, sculptures, and photography using traditional methods, for example. There’s something so unique in seeing humans explore new methods and creating such unique pieces or art, furniture, etc.
I think that one of the beautiful things about humans, and that brings me to why I think robots and AI will never truly replace humans in certain fields, is that humans are limited, and that limit factor is what gives us joy when we see another human go a little bit beyond what was thought to be impossible. That athlete who ran 0.1 seconds faster than the world record, that singer that can sing 1 semi tone higher or lower (or both) than anyone else, that person who created a unique style of painting. Machines don’t have that. As long as we keep evolving and technology becomes faster and better, machines will just keep expanding in terms of their capabilities. To me, as much as there’s a place to feel amazed about that, I don’t feel as amazed as seeing a human creating something unique or doing something a bit farther than any other human. At the end of the day, if you think about it, when we applaud the advancement of technology, we are in fact applauding the humans who made it possible, not the technology itself.
But back to the limits of humans, that’s why people love sports. The chances of one of two teams losing and the other one winning, because of the human limitations, is what makes sports interesting. If we knew that our team would always win, would we still enjoy watching it? After a while it would become boring. Would the other team even try, knowing they would lose? How many times in human history did a team become legendary by defeating another team that was thought to be invincible?
One of the beauties of technology, as an example, is that social media allows people from any corner of the Earth to show their skills. I’ve been exposed to so much talent, so much interesting art, places in the world that completely have shown me a different perspective on what those places actually look like.
If you look at old pictures of a parking lot, for example, you will see not only cars that were designed with lots of detail, but you will see lots of colors. These days, all cars look almost the same, all trying to look ‘futuristic’, made of fiber (or whatever material they use), and when it comes to colors, parking lots look dull. White, gray, and black dominate 99% of car colors. Isn’t that sad?
We are losing color everywhere. Not only the color itself, but the “color” that is enjoying things and people in a more joyful way. Appreciating a chair that was carved by an experienced woodcarver. Looking at a painting and knowing it was created by someone who really studied color, lighting, perspective, etc, and not someone who calls themselves an “artist” and simply drops a bucket of paint on a canvas and calls it a “painting”. Things don’t have to be complex or realistic to be beautiful, that’s not my point. I just think that we normalized this idea that anything is art, because anyone who expresses themselves a certain way, can be considered an artist. I totally disagree with that. If you express yourself without any real education or skill, you’re an express-ist (I made up that word), not an art-ist. But this is a subject for another topic, I guess…