Good is...? Studio Workshop

Good is... the psychological benefits of nostalgia

In today's workshop, we were asked to think laterally, look at concepts and ideas we would not necessarily consider through a series of thought-provoking questions. To begin with (and to end with infact) I found this quite struggling due to the 'good' I chose. Nostalgia is an idea, an emotion, something which can not necessarily be compared against something else. In response to the 'Who finds it good?' question, for example, the answer can be extremely broad as not only can anyone use nostalgia but can access it anywhere.


1) What makes it good?

Simply makes people happy
Improves mood
Comfort
Familiarity
Can learn from past experiences
Strengthens social bonds
Easily accessible
Accessible anywhere

2) Who finds it good?

Teenagers

3) Who wouldn't find it good?

Younger children
Those with bad memories

4) What is it better than

Daydreaming
The present?
Pessimism
Unhappiness

5) If your good was a profession, what would it be?

Psychiatrist
Comedian
GP

6) If your good was a celebrity, who would it be?

Derren Brown

7) If your good was a place, where would it be?

Maldives
Home
Childhood
10 years ago

8) If your good was an event, what would it be?

Vintage fair

9) If your good was a product, what would it be?

Vinyl/records/CDs
Trading records

Refinement

We were then asked to choose the most effective or through-provoking word or statement from each of our 5 answers in order to collect a range of different associations which could help to focus our concept.

1. Improves mood and simply makes people happy
2. Teenagers (?)
3. Children (?)
4. Pessimism
5. Psychologist
6. Derren Brown
7. Home
8. Vintage Fair
9. Records

After talking to Lorraine, it was noted that even younger children are able to access nostalgia therefore the answer to question (3) needs to be refined.

As people may not want to relive their past due to particular memories they do not wish to remember or  a disruptive time of their life, nostalgia can be seen as a negative as well as a positive emotion. These people may therefore find it hard to focus on the psychological benefits of nostalgia - something which I need to overcome. I could possibly focus on particular childhood memories/associations rather than memories as a whole.