Art of the Day

[thesummerqueen]

SOCIAL MEDIA + LIFE AFTER DEATH = SEMI LIVING ‘ABOVE THE CLOUD’

I’ve always been interested in how social media users pages still continue to be updated after their death thanks to friends tagging photos, commenting and updating statuses referencing them. Not only does it keep their memories alive, it allows them to continue ‘living’ through a visible platform for friends to relive, share grief and remember.

This idea of digital archeology has been explored by Graphic Designer Boris Meister from ECAL University of Art and Design, Lausanne Switzerland . The book, ‘Above the Cloud’ is an atlas about social networks archeology, death and digital marks left in distress on the internet. Over 6 million Facebook accounts belong to dead people or ‘Ghosts’, and Meister explores how people continue ‘Semi-Living’ through interactions from friends.

Epitaphs are also explored through the last messages written on social networks before dying. An example is Taylor Sauer who posted “I can’t discuss this now. Driving and facebooking is not safe! Haha.” on Facebook one minute before she had a car accident.

http://vimeo.com/47249643