Synopsis
Which is more valuable to preserve? The Object: the size, dimensions, and provenance of a Pyramid or work of Art; or The Context: technique, materials, innovation, failures, social catalysts and impact on cultures past and present.
Mark Abouzeid
In today’s news, video and film industries; emphasis is given to preserving the object…the what…while issues of economies of scale and audience attention span adequate preservation of the context…the why.
Media culture today, in one sense, is still where food culture was in 1988. When media is processed, just like when food is processed, important elements are taken out, reconstituted, replaced, and reformulated into something resembling the authentic, original reality, but altered in both subtle and unsubtle ways.
Cultural performances, slow food products, and artisan crafts are not complete stories; they are objects out of context and have little meaning in themselves. Instead, they must represent the underlying culture, values, lifestyle choices, and enrichment that participants derive from these activities’.
The story being told is, typically, the subject’s ‘reason for being’ not the filmmaker’s ‘way to become famous’. The screenings are more often online, around a table or at a conference not at a festival or cinema. Most importantly, success is measured by the community itself and no one else.
SlowMedia producers do not fit into the modern filmmaking ecosystem. Like community agriculture, SlowMedia has grown from the ground up through the visionary work of its artists, producers, and organisation builders but needs its own model for sustainable production if it is to survive.
Download the entire paper on https://www.academia.edu/31856172/Sustainable_slow_media
