Marie Koury - Why Channel Analog?

WHY CHANNEL ANALOG?

A Manifesto

Media shapes our understanding of reality. Cave drawings, paintings, photos, print, film, digital media technology - these function as fractals of human experience. The moments - and media - we give our conscious attention to create the fabric of our lives. There are infinite directions to look in our current media landscape; unlimited mediums through which we take in, create, and disseminate the ideas that define us. The magnitude of these circumstances - the sheer volume of information that digital media technology generates - is powerful. Like fire, it holds the potential for both human annihilation and evolution and must be harnessed responsibly.

Instead, media is primarily dealt to us by hyper-individualized, slot-machine-like algorithms controlled by Big Tech that, by design, fracture our attention and weaken our critical ability to distinguish between useful and useless information, fact and fiction. Our realities differ as vastly as our feeds - a result of chance and convenience rather than curiosity and shared experience. We have become alienated from ourselves and one another.

It is not essential to human survival to process the ceaseless assault of stimuli we have at our fingertips. In fact, it is evident that it is urgently detrimental to our individual and collective vitality. We feel it, see it, talk about it: our relationship with media technology and each other is causing widespread physical, mental and spiritual suffering. This way of life was imposed upon us and has become increasingly difficult to control. We yearn for a simpler time when media was a gift, not a given.

This is the reason for Channel Analog.

Channel Analog is a place, a state of being, and a call to action. To ‘channel analog’ means to re-evaluate our relationship with digital media technology as makers and consumers. To play an active role in this relationship and to be intentional in our daily choices. To reclaim our consciousness and to fight against the addictive and destructive habits we’ve formed at the hands of massive tech conglomerates. Our well-being and their bottom line are in direct conflict.

In the face of these forces, channeling analog is an act resistance and revolution. But it does not mean a complete rejection of all things digital. It means hearkening back to the dawn of these technologies and imagining how we could’ve used these tools differently if the Tech Giants and capitalism hadn’t decided for us.

It also means channeling a time before the dawn of these technologies and reconnecting with, or learning about, how life was lived; letting the long history of nondigital innovation teach us that there are effective - and perhaps preferable, more humane - frameworks for meaning making and communication that do not necessarily involve digital technology.

To Channel Analog means to enact a future where media, technology and humanity live in harmony.

In praxis, channeling analog looks like small, incremental changes in habits and lifestyle. A daily practice in redirecting our attention from the buzzes and beeps in our pockets to the physical reality around us. Similar to mindfulness meditation, there is no image of perfection or a final destination. The meaning lies in this continual process of noticing, shifting, refocusing. All it takes is the will to return to our conscious awareness of the present moment, again and again, and to make choices from that headspace.

Channeling analog could look like:

-Implementing achievable guidelines for interfacing with devices, like enforcing structured time to complete a task without checking other applications.(A practical starting point is turning off or deleting all non-essential notifications.)

-Using a dumb phone.

-Significantly paring down information streams. Quality over quantity yields retention and understanding. We do not build knowledge without this foundation.

-Divesting from social media networks. There are other ways to connect to personally important friends, family, art/artists and information.

-Exploring alternative online communities and modes of digital expression uncontrolled by Big Tech, i.e. open source platforms that do not have business incentives to turn their users into products.

-Creating art for art's sake first and foremost, not purely in service of the Almighty Algorithm.

-Practicing mindfulness meditation regularly. Mindfulness is a muscle that grows and remembers. The more it is used, the more readily it is accessed.

-Utilizing analog (or "analog"), modalities when possible: reading a physical book; writing with a pen and paper; listening to a record or CD. While occasionally less convenient, these mediums promote intentionality - slow consumption and creation. A richness of experience.

-Connecting with local community. Growth and change, in any context, begins on the ground - step by step, day by day. Feeling the energy of a space filled with people who share passion and purpose is revitalizing.

-Engaging with art and culture in-person. This forms community^ and is a generative, intellectually stimulating way to socialize. We have lost touch with the value of physically gathering in dedicated spaces to take in creative work together. Art is meant to be a collective experience. The material's significance solidifies in space and time when we commune over it, and fades quickly without this lifeline.

-Reinvesting in beloved hobbies and/or creating space to discover new interests. Using our brains and bodies to explore our curiosities connects us to our essential nature as humans. The lure of passive consumption robs us of precious time and attention that we could be directing toward delightful and fulfilling activities. Some may find hobbies emerging naturally as they step further into a technology-balanced lifestyle.

To Channel Analog will look different for each person and generation as we continue to create culture around emerging digital media technologies. But the goal will always remain the same: to consume and make media mindfully; to utilize technology as a tool to foster sustained meaning, creativity, and human connection, not as an end in itself.

The noise has made it difficult, but the answers are there.

All we have to do is listen.