Trend Blue

Blue perches on the edge of her cybermobile, races down the information highway, turns the corner, and then barely screeches to a halt before shooting off again.

Accustomed in her youth to sitting still , then later travelling on horseback, ships or aeroplanes,  this kind of travel is exciting to her and she has taken to it like a duck takes to water. 

At last she has come of age and is no longer limited by the confines of distance and time. A thrill of excitement ripples through her at the very thought of the avenues of opportunity that have opened to her.

Now at last she can shout out from the rooftops and be heard by others instantaneously. 

Blue, by another name, is Communication, and in the current age has a voice unheard-of before.  Aided by technology and most importantly social media, Blue is the newly acquired voice of the collective.

Never before has the collective been so able to participate in bringing about change despite the many unhealthy structures still existing in some parts of society. The collective has in a sense, truly found its voice.

The collective has widened its embrace and individuals willing to open themselves to new perspectives and different world views, find themselves part of a much bigger We than that to be found in their family, their tribe, their town, their country, their religion, or even their species. And this We has a voice.

I have called this voice Blue for many reasons.

All colors have frequencies and when exposed to them we resonate with them in ways we are often unaware of. At the same time our evolving energy levels probably cause us to be drawn to colors existing at the same frequency. 

In the study of colors, blue is related to self expression. It symbolizes speech, and the ability to communicate our needs and requirements.  

Blue, the color of conversation, is said to absorb and release sound. In his book, “Born on a Blue Day”, Daniel Tammet, one of the very few people alive with synesthesia and autism, describes how he sees “the sound of loud voices arguing” in blue. 

When one studies the chakra system, the fifth chakra associated with the throat, is the chakra of communication, expression and creativity. The color associated with it is blue. Not only are there the seven chakras for the individual, but there are also said to be seven planetary chakras. According to some schools of thought, the fifth planetary throat chakra is said to be at the Great Pyramid of Giza located just outside of Cairo - interesting, when one considers recent events in Egypt and the action that was able to be initiated through the use of social media.

In an interconnected world, trends in one area keep popping up in others. Blue at the moment is in.

Twitter’s official logo is in blue. Blue, light blue and sky blue variations of the twitter bird, although not their official business logo, are used as style elements on their website.

The ribbon promoting freedom of online speech is blue, and it is said that blue is becoming the new green.

At the end of the Milan Fashion Week, Giorgio Armani presented his Spring/Summer Collection for 2011. Inspired by the nomadic Touaregs, known for their wearing of blue, the show, entitled La Femme Bleue, had models wandering out of a desert backdrop in shades of blue from cobalt, through navy to royal and midnight blue.

I have referred before to the rise of what I call global nomads in the current world culture we are part of. This collection was a reminder to me once again of the need for finding new and diverse ways of communicating in this century of mobility and in a world where the centre is constantly changing.

If you have the time to watch the fashion show that follows, be sure to look out for Blue. She is definitely on the catwalk!

Spaces to Places

Recently opened in Downtown Dubai, The Pavilion is a contemporary art space which not only encourages dialogue between art and its audience, but is also a vibrant space for the neighborhood, with galleries, a cinema, library, espresso bar and restaurant. The architect Abboud Malak has said, “It’s anything you want it to be; just come and bring your computer or socialise. It’s a versatile space and encompasses everything.... The people will make the space what it is.”

I often go there to do research, write or hang out with friends. The design with its natural woods has a very calming effect. It is a place where creatives can work, socialise or simply be.

Spaces become places when individuals or communities endow them with meaning. Spaces become places through the participation of people.

One’s experience of a particular space evokes emotion and memory and gives rise to what is often referred to as a sense of place. Some spaces are so designed that they encourage the individual to spend time there alone, others invite participation and interaction with others, and others encourage both.

Right now, we find ourselves having to move, more and more, in online space. 

 

In a sense we have become online nomads, meeting fellow travelers from different places, countries and cultures in a space not limited by time. We often tend to wander from site to site, perhaps unaware that we are actually in search of online oases. These are sites that nourish and refresh, and where we are met with online hospitality.  When this is not so, we simply click away and are transported down another corridor.

Whereas many see today’s technologies encouraging placelessness, this need not be the case. What is required of us now is a special generation of architects and designers, creators of online spaces which become special online places for current and future users. 

Physical spaces designed by architects to encourage reflection or interaction are not empty. Their features encourage occupants of the space to interact with it in a particular way.

Online spaces need to be created in this way too.

Just as decorators move shapes around to find the right place and the right fit, so too the positioning of words, widgets, links, videos etc can be approached with mindfulness.

It is encouraging, for example, to see new blog technologies coming in to being that will move away from the linear and allow positioning of videos, pics and words all over a blank page. Such collage like blogging will most definitely promote creativity.

The spaces we occupy online deserve our respect.  We can declutter by regularly emptying our mail boxes. We can consider not retweeting that which we have not read or watched.  A mindful online presence will require that we don’t simply fill the space we encounter with mere words, simply for the sake of filling it. 

If we have our own website, we should be aware that the home page is an online door. What image does it portray to the first time visitor. Does it encourage the visitor to enter? Is it welcoming? Does the architecture of the website enable the visitor to meet others there? Does it encourage the visitor to return? Does the visitor feel at home there?  Does its mindful design include windows that provide vistas, and bridges that lead to new sites. 

Is it a pavilion, a dome, a light filled space where others are encouraged to be?

 

          I saw that my life was a vast glowing empty page and I could do 

anything I wanted. - Jack Kerouac

The space where we meet online is like this too. It is certainly vast, and when we look at our handheld gadgets, it is certainly glowing. What are we going to do with it? What are we going to create?