Romanticism
I'm attracted to the romanticism of academia and minimalism from the 1960s-70s. I can't help it, but be drawn to these aesthetics. Film photography, writing in journals with an ink pen, reading physical books, drinking tea or simple talking walks and talking about philosophy. So why is it that we struggle to let go of the past or hold onto the past as if it was better than where we are now? To put it simple why do we romanticise the past?
Reflection is hindsight, looking backwards it's easy to say those were simpler times, we had it easy. Like our childhood or our teenage years void of purpose or responsibility. And your right they were easier, but at the same time they were harder, you just choose to ignore these parts.
I would say that our modern age is lacking character, uniformity strips our surroundings of personality. Take the modern seat bench. Most commonly a slab of concrete or a wedge of concrete with wood on top of it giving the allusion to sustainability. Divorced of character to make way for simplicity ease of construction and eyesore. Compared to a classic beach seat, which is normally wooden or wood and steel finishings, covered in a victorian design aesthetic. Each city, town or region has completely different decorative displays. This design has character, individuality, displays or resembles a creation or motif. The wood combined with the steel handles complement each other and didn't mask their difference but shouted it out. Everything in our modern world is stripped of individuality, and because of this, we look back into our past with fondness because our past said something.
I'm a minimalist, or I was until I realised it was just another way for the wealthy class to separate themselves from the masses. But like everything; the masses love to mirror and strive to feel and look like the figures they aspire to be. So minimalism is now mass-produced, and as such everyone is bland and same same. It's no longer a rebellion from the fast fashion, consumerism culture. It's turned into the very thing it despised, like everything that the masses aspire to replicate and have eventually kills it.
Because of this, I'm a romantic, I keep looking into the past and fantasising. But at the same time, I'm stuck in my ways and will always choose simplicity and ease of use and function over aesthetics. I'm boring by heart. But that doesn't stop me from admiring and loving a certain aesthetic or way of life, to a simpler time, away from digital instant gratification. Just the thought of writing in a journal or reading a book in the park eases my soul.
What is your persona aesthetic, what do you wish never faded from our culture? Or better yet, what time in history do you wish you were born in? For me, it's a mix between the 1960s and now. Let me know the era you think your soul belongs in.