Social backgrounding
For the foreseeable future most of us are experiencing some form of forced physical isolation. Whether we like it or not, we’re all part of a huge control case study around social dynamics. If we look hard enough at the outcomes I wonder if we’ll spot new, valuable modes of social interaction.
In my case, I’m missing something ambient, by which I mean something undeniably present but only if we choose to focus on it. Like birdsong. Or the sound of traffic. Or the hum of conversation in a coffee shop.
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It’s a form of communication, but not in the same way dialogue is. I mean the implicit physical and social cues that we unconsciously gather when we occupy a space. Things that often help us contextualise our environment.
A little like ‘ambient signifiers’ (design elements that communicate subtly as part of the environment’s ambiance). Best explained by the way the chimes on the Japanese Underground implicitly communicate location to its passengers.
But I also miss the cues from other humans. The unintentional, typically unnoticed actions of friends, colleagues even passers-by. I miss the sense of connection this creates. I wonder if this sense of social background could be recreated.
