The online and offline worlds are now melting together, thanks to smartphones and social media. But as our life shifts into the cloud, we’re starting to realize that 0s and 1s lack the tangibility and permanence of paper and film. Significant emotional moments are easy to misplace in the online ether, which helps explain why artists and brands are trying to create analog souvenirs of our increasingly digital lives.
Want a coaster of your favourite Instagram photo? No problem. Looking for a miniature printer that connects to your smartphone and generates a tiny personalized newspaper? Done and done.
Drawing on my experience as co-creator of txt2hold.ca and tweet2hold.com, two interactive art projects that generate unique paper keepsakes of digital experiences, I will explain the whys and hows of converting fleeting texts and tweets into permanent analog souvenirs through a careful mix of research, design thinking and creative inspiration.