David Tudor und die Merce Cunningham Dance Company

Der Choreograph und Tänzer Merce Cunningham gründete 1953 die Merce Cunningham Dance Company, die eine große Rolle in der Welt der performativen, modernen Kunst spielten. Weltweiten Erfolg erlangte die Tanzgruppe vor allem 1964 bei der sechsmonatigen Welttournee. Die Merce Cunningham Dance Company gab bis 2011 Aufführungen. 2 Jahre zuvor ist Merce Cunningham im Alter von 90 Jahren verstorben.
Die Werke der Tanzgruppe beinhalten eine Kombination verschiedener Medienformen, wie Fotografie, Film, Klang und natürlich der Live-Performance. Für dieses Projekt waren John Cage und David Tudor involviert als Komponisten. Die Kompositionen David Tudors für die Tanzgruppe basieren vor allem auf der Verwendung experimenteller elektronischer Elemente.

Eine der bekanntesten Werke, das David Tudor für die Merce Cunningham Dance Company vertonte, ist das im Jahre 1968 veröffentlichte “RainForest”. Für das Bühnenbild wurde Andy Warhols Installation “Silver Clouds” verwendet. Das sind silberne, mit Helium gefüllte Kissen, die in der Luft hängen und zufällig angeordnet sind. Während der Aufführungen verhielten sich die Kissen oft unberechenbar. Im Werk “RainForest” gibt es an sich keine Handlung, die Dramaturgie wird stattdessen durch die gesamte Atmosphäre geschaffen. Die Musik besteht aus elektronischen Klängen, Vogelgezwitscher und anderen Klängen von Tieren. Auch wurden verschiedene Objekte wie Tassen, Krüge, Vasen usw. zur Generierung von Klängen verwendet.

RainForest (1968)

David Tudor komponierte zum einen die Musik für einige Werke, gleichzeitig entwickelte er aber auch Systeme, die das interaktive Zusammenspiel der Tänzer mit der Musik ermöglichten. Im Werk “Variations V” entwarf Tudor zusammen mit Cage ein System, das den ausführenden Tänzern mithilfe von Lichtschranken ermöglichte, unterschiedliche Klangerzeuger zu steuern. Zusätzlich wurden Antennen auf der Bühne verteilt, die weitere Klänge steuern und manipulieren, sobald die Tänzer sich den Antennen nähern. Desweiteren wurden alle Requisiten elektronisch vernetzt, sodass auch diese Klänge generieren konnten. Damit wollten Tudor und Cage das standardmäßige Verhältnis, bei welchem der Tanz auf Musik folgt, aufbrechen und die Musik abhängig vom Tanz machen.

Variations V (1965)



Weitere Werke:

Exchange (1978)
Sounddance (1975)
Ocean (1994)

Quellen:
https://www.staatsoper.de/biographien/cunningham-merce

https://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/buehne-und-konzert/merce-cunningham-dance-company-es-war-einmal-in-amerika-11576852.html

http://www.see-this-sound.at/werke/189.html

https://www.mercecunningham.org/the-work/choreography/rainforest/

Krebs Cycle as Design Thinking Approach

According to Wikipedia, the reverse Krebs cycle (also known as the reverse tricarboxylic acid cycle) is a sequence of chemical reactions that are used by some bacteria to produce carbon compounds from carbon dioxide and water by the use of energy-rich reducing agents as electron donors.

Regardless of how you choose to call this cycle, it is the main engine of cellular respiration.

The tricarboxylic acid cycle is the center, where almost all metabolic pathways converge. Thus, the Krebs cycle is a common final pathway for the oxidation of acetyl groups (in the form of acetyl-CoA), into which most of the organic molecules that play the role of “cellular fuel” are converted during catabolism: carbohydrates, fatty acids and amino acids.

The tricarboxylic acid cycle is a closed cycle. The last stage of which transforms the molecule used in the first stage, if we calculate the total energy effect of glycolytic degradation of glucose and the subsequent oxidation of the two formed pyruvate molecules to CO2 and H2O, then it will turn out to be much greater. As well as the Design cycle starts from the Ideation and, passing all stages, finished with Definition. The cycle is closed system, so it can go on indefinitely.

In Design Thinking Cycle — the solution of the problem is divided into couple of steps, that are following each other, transforming and decaying into small and simple elements.

Six steps of the cycle are Ideate, Prototype, Test, Implement, Empathise and Define.

  1. Emphathise

At the first stage of the cycle, acetyl-CoA combines with a 4-carbon acceptor molecule, oxaloacetate, to form a 6-carbon molecule, — citrate.

I would say (if no one throws stones in me), that designer is always an empath. He is looking for the most comfortable solution. It’s easy to do projects that you understand. If you are into rap, making a rapper landing page is easy. But if a customer trades on a financial exchange, he will have to delve into his business, understand the processes and understand how he feels when communicating with people. So, designer is forming with a client mind, to form an overall idea of a project.

2. Define

After small transformations, this 6-carbon molecule enters into two successive similar reactions, as a result of each of which one carbon atom is split off (it is released in the form of a carbon dioxide molecule), while producing one molecule each time.

Organize the information you get through empathy, analyze the observations, and highlight the user’s key problems. The purpose of focusing is to formulate a question to which you will produce an answer in the next step.

3. Ideate

Once you’ve identified the user’s problem, come up with and work out non-standard solutions. Give up the critical thinking we are all so used to. Criticism can ruin a good idea. Write down everything, even the most delusional thoughts. Once the creative is over, pick out viable ideas and move on to the next stage. Idea, in this case, — is the enzyme(isocitrate dehydrogenase) plays a very important role in regulating the rate of the tricarboxylic acid cycle.

4. Prototype

Here the task is to test the performance of ideas in practice. It is enough to make a budget version or low fidelity prototype of the product with functions that will help solve the indicated problem.

Prototype, as the enzyme, responsible for this stage is built into the inner membrane of the mitochondria, due to which it can transfer its electrons directly into the electron transport chain.

5. Test

Pretty understandable, right? Either it works, either not. And we adding, involving more people to it, as chemistry adds water to the fumarate molecule, resulting in another 4-carbon molecule – malate.

6. Implement

At the last stage of the tricarboxylic acid cycle, oxidation of malate again yields oxaloacetate — the original 4-carbon molecule that entered the tricarboxylic acid cycle, but with bigger amount of energy. Our small thought is still the same, but it is a big working project in reality now!

David Tudor – Pepscillator

ANIMA PEPSI wurde als Live-Mischung aus neun Tonbändern konzipiert, mit demselben Verteilungsschema wie Pepsibird. Während es bei Pepsibird in erster Linie um “innere” Räume neuronaler Aktivität ging, ist Anima Pepsi eine Mischung aus Feldaufnahmen “äußerer” Tier- und Insektengeräusche, einschließlich einiger Insektengeräusche, die zu Tudors Lieblingsgeräuschen wurden und in Kompositionen späterer Jahre wieder auftauchen.

Dazu gehört eine Aufnahme von Moskitos in einem Glas, die Tudor selbst in Osaka aufgenommen hat, sowie “Fliege auf Fliegenpapier”, “Wespe kauend” und “Käfer gehend”. Eine Aufnahme menschlicher Geräusche, einschließlich Pfeifen, war ebenfalls Teil der Tiermischung, die in Tudors Beschreibung als “lustiges Tonband” bezeichnet wird. (Tudor 1970)

PEPSI PAVILION war ein von E.A.T. für die Expo ’70 in Osaka Japan entworfener und programmierter Pavillon.

Tudor arbeitete eng mit Gordon Mumma und Fred Waldhuer zusammen, um ein einzigartiges 37-Kanal-Soundsystem mit automatischer und vom Künstler gesteuerter Klangmodifikation und -verteilung zu entwickeln.

PEPSCILLATOR war ein Werk, das David Tudor speziell für den Pepsi-Pavillon schuf und bei dem Ketten von Audioprozessoren eingesetzt wurden, die mehrere selbstschwingende Rückkopplungsschleifen erzeugten.

Im folgenden ist der Score von David Todors ‘Pepscillator’ zu sehen:

Quellen:

composers-inside-electronics.net/dtudor/legacy/pepscillator
/pepscillator_score
/pavillion

Ambisonic Clubs – Just a Fad or the Future of Nightlife?

Mainstream digital media is still stuck in stereo. Most people cannot imagine how music would sound in a realm of multi-channel setups. Ambisonic music has a small, but dedicated fanbase consisting mostly of audio nerds- engineers, sound designers and music producers who are looking to innovate their craft. Right now, ambisonics are in their infancy when it comes to nightclubs and festivals. So far, there are only 2 organisations that have made strides in making the 3D club dream a reality.

Envelop San Francisco

Envelop’s SF space for ambisonic clubbing and events

Envelop Audio is a company that funded most of their ventures through Kickstarter campaigns. They released a series of free devices for Ableton Live, which help turn the DAW into an ambisonic production suite. They set a campaign goal of only 27,000 USD to build a space that will continue to be used as a 3D nightclub and a place for other ambisonic events, like sound baths and ambisonic workshops. The good thing about this club is not only that music lovers get to experience clubbing on another level, but the experiments and innovations within the space contribute to the further development of ambisonics as a field in audio engineering. The SF-based club has 32 speakers and 4 subwoofers to play with. There is a certain setup required to run all these speakers. The DJ must use Ableton and the Envelop 4 Live devices, as well as a touch-optimised app for controlling individual elements of a multitrack composition, just like a mixer would. From there, musicians can perform and mix their music from Ableton and control how much of which sound goes to which speaker. The great thing about Envelop is that the company found a solution on how to expand their reach and introduce more people to the joys of ambisonic music. This is done through their other, more mobile events, called Envelop Satellite and Envelop Pop-Up Events. Satellite is a large mobile space that can be assembled at different locations for important events, with full immersion which includes walls and a makeshift wall. Pop-Up is a more compact version intended for use at festivals or daytime events, even indoor! The system consists of an immersive listening space defined by 8 points of immersive sound and audio-reactive lights.

Envelop’s Satellite
Schematics of the Satellite
Drone shot from one of Envelop’s Pop-Up Events

Club “Audio” San Francisco

The second immersive club is oddly enough also situated in San Francisco, and is iconically called “Audio”. The debut 3D event happened in November 2017 with one of the currently most popular House DJs, Jamie Jones. The club partnered up with Funktion One (pioneers among live audio technology) to bring forth a multi-speaker setup where individual elements are separated similarly to Envelop’s setup.. On top of everything, there are fully functional rumble packs under the dancefloor to improve the immersion with bass frequencies. The venue packs 400 people and is claiemd to be a massive upgrade to the dance scene and the so called “altar for DJ Gods”.

Photos from the debut 3D Event. Source: Club Audio

Resources

https://techcrunch.com/2015/04/09/envelop/amp/

https://www.envelop.us/venues

Explained
 -Netflix Schönheitsoperationen

Diese Vox-Serie befasst sich mit den unterschiedlichsten Themen, Explained Season 3 Episode 10 “Plastic Surgery” beleuchtet das sich durch Instagram verändernde Schönheitsideal und das Mittel Schönheitsoperation um dieses zu erreichen sowie die Ursprünge und Auswirkungen jener Eingriffe. 

Screenshot: Klein, Ezra; Posner, Joe : Explained, Season 3: Plastic Surgery. Netflix, 2021. Available online at https://www.netflix.com/browse?jbv=80216752

Ein perfektes Instagram-Gesicht und formschönes Gesäß Schöneheits-OPs verwandeln Beauty-Trends in Realität. 

Vor allem das InstagramFace wird heutzutage angestrebt. Millionen ähnliche Gesichter aufgrund von Mandelaugen, und vollen weiche Lippen. Immer mehr kaufen sich dieses Filtergesicht auch im echten Leben und so wird das InstagramFace mehr und mehr zur Realität.

Screenshot: Klein, Ezra; Posner, Joe : Explained, Season 3: Plastic Surgery. Netflix, 2021. Available online at https://www.netflix.com/browse?jbv=80216752

 Die Grenzen des Normalen werden immer enger gesteckt, denn je mehr Leute sich operieren lassen desto eher werden Eingriffe als normal angesehen und desto mehr wächst der Druck sich diesem Ideal anzupassen – da es ja möglich ist. Schönheitsideale sind heute ohne OPs schwer zu erreichen. Frauen wollen jetzt Gesichtsstrukturen, wie sie die Filter zaubern- große Lippen, perfekte Augenbrauen, die richtige Nase und Kieferpartie.

Uns steht eine Zukunft bevor in der wir unser Erscheinungsbild drastisch verändern können da Eingriffe dieser Art risikoärmer und erschwinglicher geworden sind. Plastische Operationen muss man nicht mehr verheimlichen.

Screenshot: Klein, Ezra; Posner, Joe : Explained, Season 3: Plastic Surgery. Netflix, 2021. Available online at https://www.netflix.com/browse?jbv=80216752

Die Maßnahmen die wir ergreifen um „gut“ auszusehen sind unterschiedlich extrem.

Screenshot: Klein, Ezra; Posner, Joe : Explained, Season 3: Plastic Surgery. Netflix, 2021. Available online at https://www.netflix.com/browse?jbv=80216752
MakeUp, Körperpflege, Haarfarben , Push-Up BH
(Natürliche Schönheit unterstreichen)
Botox, Filler, Cool Sculpting 
(Minimalinvasive Eingriffe)
Brustvergrößerungen, Po Lift, Knochenformung
(Operative Eingriffe)
Screenshot: Klein, Ezra; Posner, Joe : Explained, Season 3: Plastic Surgery. Netflix, 2021. Available online at https://www.netflix.com/browse?jbv=80216752

Je mehr man sich dem Schönheitsideal beugt desto mehr wird es gestärkt. Wie etwa vor etwa 30 Jahren unbehaarte Körper normalisiert wurden, und zwar Weltweit.

Es findet stetig ein Wandel von früher extrem geltenden Eingriffen zur Normalisierung statt. Wie etwa bei Nasen-OPs. ->Eingriffe die Früher als Extrem angesehen waren sind heute Routine-Eingriffe

Reality-TV-Show “The Swan” aus dem Jahr 2004.
Screenshot: Klein, Ezra; Posner, Joe : Explained, Season 3: Plastic Surgery. Netflix, 2021. Available online at https://www.netflix.com/browse?jbv=80216752

In der Show wurden die “hässlichen” Frauen komplett umoperiert und optimiert, und diejenige, welche am Ende am besten aussah, wurde zur Siegerin gekürt. Sie Serie erntete zwar viel Kritik doch für die zweite Staffel bewarben sich 500.000 Frauen.

Dieses Konzept ist nicht neu. Bereits 1924 rief eine Zeitung zum Operationsmarathon auf. In der Anzeige wurde die reizloseste Dame in NewYork gesucht um ihr zu Ihrem Glück zu verhelfen. Jaqueline Naagl wurde ausgewählt und bekam danach sogar Filmrollen angeboten.

Schönheitsoperationen wurden revolutioniert durch die Korrektur der Kriegswunden von entstellten Soldaten. 

Screenshot: Klein, Ezra; Posner, Joe : Explained, Season 3: Plastic Surgery. Netflix, 2021. Available online at https://www.netflix.com/browse?jbv=80216752

Prof. Dr. J. Joseph wird als Gründer der Plastischen Chirurgie bezeichnet. Er behandelte nicht nur Kriegsverwundete. Trug also dazu bei Operationen aus rein ästhetischen Gründen salonfähig zu machen. 

Screenshot: Klein, Ezra; Posner, Joe : Explained, Season 3: Plastic Surgery. Netflix, 2021. Available online at https://www.netflix.com/browse?jbv=80216752

In manchen Ländern gehören Schönheits-OPs zum Erwachsenwerden dazu. In Südkorea hat jede dritte 20-Jährige bereits mindestens einen Eingriff hinter sich. Es gibt dort einen sogar einen Begriff für „Employment Surgery“ – Eingriffe die einen helfen sollen leichter einen Job zu finden. 

Der brasilianische Chirurg Dr. Ivo Pitanguy wird als Papst der Plastischen Chirurgie bezeichnet und als Nationalheld gefeiert. Einst Operateur der superreichen und Inselbesitzer operiert Mittellose kostenlos. Jeder hat ein Anrecht auf Schönheit.
Er ist zudem Pionier der plastischen Chirurgie und entwickelte eine Bauchstraffung bei welcher die Narbe im Bikinibereich versteckt liegt, Minifacelifts und das Brazilian ButtLift – der Eingriff mit dem größten Quantitätszuwachs.

Screenshot: Klein, Ezra; Posner, Joe : Explained, Season 3: Plastic Surgery. Netflix, 2021. Available online at https://www.netflix.com/browse?jbv=80216752

Bei keinen anderen Eingriff ist die Zahl der Eingriffe in den letzen Jahren so stark gestiegen wie beim Brazilian Butt-Lift (65.9%).

Forscher haben versucht die Vorteile von Schöneheitsoperationen zu messen diese sind jedoch schwer messbar aber bei einer Metastudie fand man zumindest herraus, dass die Lebensqualität nach Operationen anstieg. Das Ausmaß ist jedoch Abhängig vom Eingriff (z.B. bei Geschlechtsangleichende OPs steigt Lebensqualität mehr). Und jedenfalls steigern plastische Eingriffe das Selbstbewusstsein. 

I often say that I’m not in the business of making people look better, I’m in the business of making people feel better

Dr. Haideh Hirmand – Plastische Chirurgin

Quelle: Klein, Ezra; Posner, Joe : Explained, Season 3: Plastic Surgery. Netflix, 2021. Available online at https://www.netflix.com/browse?jbv=80216752

Film Festivals

“Film Festivals have been around a long time. The first event was the Venice Film Festival in 1932, with other major fests launching within the years after WWII, including: Locarno (1946), Edinburgh (1947), Cannes (1947), Melbourne (1951), and Berlin (1951). “ (1) Film Festivals are not only a great opportunity to show a new movie to an audience, but it is also a notable way of making connections in the industry. Under the visitors are not only interested viewers but often also people representing companies and organisations related to the festival. At more well known festival like Sundance it is not unusual that upcoming filmmakers are discovered and have the opportunity to start their career as a filmmaker on a higher level. Besides that it is a great chance to get to know other filmmakers, take part in workshops and talk more about the message of your film in Q&A sessions after your film is screened.

One popular website to submit films through is film freeway, browsing through this site it gets clear that there are a lot of film festivals out there. Yet not every festival is for every film. When planning a film the director should have an audience in mind, so as the film is done at the end of the process, the right festival for this audience needs to be found. 

Most festivals do have a fee for submissions, so choose festivals wisely in order to spend your budget for the right festivals and increase the chance of your film being shown at festivals. It is also a good idea to think of where you want your film to premiere. “When planning your festival strategy, it’s important to think about them as marketing opportunities, but also knowing where you have a chance to shine. For example, while it`s great if you get invited to a top-tier festival, it can be difficult without a publicist or rep to get any attention with so many films. Yes, it’s always nice to get the indentation to Sundance, but too many filmmakers count on this. In 2017, they had thousands of entries for approximately 120 slots. Not good odds. And a number of smaller tests can give little films great opportunities.” (2)

Here a list of some documentary film festivals: IDFA, HotDocs, Full Frame, Sheffield, Silver Docs, Thessaloniki, True/ False, DC Environmental, SXSW, Doc NYC

Top 25 Film Festivals:

Sundance

IDFA & Toronto

Hot Docs

Sheffield Doc/ Fest

Berlin

Silverdocs

Tribeca

SXSW

Los Angeles

CPH:DOX

True/False

Full Frame

Ambulante/ Morelia

Jihlava

San Francisco

Edinburgh 

Thessaloniki 

Camden

Sarasota

Doc Lisboa

DokuFest Kosovo

Denver

Traverse City

Ashland

There are also a lot of smaller festival which are especially for environmental films like the Jackson Wild Film Festival (the nature equivalent to the Oscars), Suncine, Environmental Film Festival Australia, International Environmental Film Festival Green Vision, Planet in Focus International Environmental Film Festival (Canadian Screen Award Qualified), Colorado Environmental Film Festival, CinemAmbiente-Environmental Film Fest, Wild and Science Film Festival, Envirofilm, Save the Waves Film Festival, International Ocean Film Festival, Blue Ocean Film Festival & Conservation Summit, and many more.

There are many things to think about when submitting a thing, the three most important ones are:

-the budget: When thinking of the film festival budget, it is important to not only focus on the costs for submissions. When the film gets selected the director and some members of the crew might want to make appearances at a couple of the festivals. Some festivals do pay for accommodation or transport, but in general, it’s better to plan a budget for appearances.

-the timing: The timing of the release should be planned after knowing to what festivals the film is going to be submitted. Festivals do have deadlines and most festivals are yearly, so if the deadline is missed the release has to be pushed back a year. A lot of filmmakers plan the release of their film based on the Sundance deadlines, if you choose to do so, have a back up plan or more than one. Most filmmakers submit their films to a lot of film festivals expecting to get accepted at a few, which is a realistic point of view, especially if the film does not show any revolutionary footage or has a world star in it.

-the goal: The goal of the film should be clear from the beginning, the right film festival can bring the filmmaker closer to reaching this goal. It could be to find distribution opportunities or just to show the film to the wanted audience.

Bandoneon! (A Combine)

Bandoneon! (A combine) is a work of the American pianist and experimental composer David Tudor. (“!” means “Factorial”).

This is his second work as a composer and his first full concert work, it was made for a 9 night special event in New York in October 1966 which included a number of various artistic expressions, such as avant-garde dance, music and theater. All with the collaboration of 10 artists (including John Cage) from New York and 30 engineers and scientists from the famous Bell Laboratories, an American industrial research and scientific development company (now owned by Nokia).

The location was in the 69th Regiment Armory, New York City, and titled “9 Evenings: Theater and Engineering”.

A Bandoneon (a musical instrument, whose origins are linked to Germany more than 150 years ago, but frequently used in Argentine Tango) was used as an input instrument.

This input was sent into a complex audio and visual modification system. This system was able to move the sound from speaker to speaker (12 in total) and at the same time control lights and video images that animated the entire location.

Luckily this performance was filmed, and a DVD was also released, although it’s not that easy to find.

Here is the diagram of the performance:

The audio signal is first sent to a single distributor, then transmitted to the Proportional Control System (instrument developed from Fred Waldhauer, used to control the intensity of the sound from 12 balcony loudspeaker surrounding the entire space, and to control the intensity of 8 spotlights surrounding the platform where he sat playing the Bandoneon),

[Proportional Control System]

Then to an electronic sound processor built by Tudor [Audio Processing & Modifying], then to the Vochrome (an instrument developed from Robert Kieronski, used to convert a continuous signal intro discrete triggers. It enabled the Bandoneon sound to control the switching of the balcony spotlights via light relays, and the switching of audio signals). 

(Vochrome)

And to the TV Image Control (Developed from Cross). 

The Proportional Control System modulates the intensity of light coming from lamps placed around the stage, while the projectors on the balcony are controlled by the Vochrome.

Another interesting thing about this work is that the acoustic space, through the Acoustical Feedback, was used as an oscillator.

Here an excerpt from the performance:

Resources

You Nakai – Reminded by the Instruments: David Tudor’s Music

Wikipedia – David Tudor

Wikipedia – Bandoneon

Clarisse Bardiot – 9 Evenings: Theatre and Engineering

Composer Inside Electronics – David Tudor exhibition

MedienKunstNetz – David Tudor >Bandoneón!<

Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia – 9 Evenings: Theatre & Engineering. Bandoneon! [Bandoneon Factorial] (A Combine)

The Art of Making Memories

Part 01

Findings from my last survey (Joyful Design—Survey Part 02) highlighted that photographs/photo albums are objects of high value to people. They were mentioned by most people as possession of high importance. Photographs and our preference to take and collect them are highly linked to making and keeping memories. Inspired by those findings, I took a closer look at the publication “The Art of Making Memories: How to Create and Remember Happy Moments” by Meik Wiking. Meik Wiking founded the Happiness Research Institute Copenhagen and dedicates his life to the research of Happiness.

The book answers questions such as, why a piece of music or a smell can take us back to something we have forgotten—and, how we can learn to create happy memories and to hold on to them. Happiness research in general suggests that people are happiest when they hold a positive, nostalgic view of their past. This means, that long-term happiness stems from the ability to form a positive narrative of our lives.

1.000 Happy Memories
In 2018 the Happiness Insititute Copenhagen conducted a global study on Happy Memories. People were asked to describe one of their happy memories—not a particular one, but the one which came first into their minds. In the end, they found a specific pattern in those thousands of answers from all over the world. People were particularly remembering experiences that were:

62% Multisensory
Sounds, Scents, Touch and Tastes

56% Emotional
Struggles & Victories, Connection to Nature & People (e.g. one women saw, smelled and tasted peppers which her mother used to roast when she was a child)

37% Meaningful
Big Days in Peoples Lives (e.g. weddings, births)

23% Novel & Extraordinary
The Power of Firsts (e.g. visiting a country for the first time)

Note: One memory could apply to several of the above listed points. 7 per cent of participants answered that those memories have been remembered because they were outsourced in diaries or photographs.

Design Takeaway
So what can we take away from this knowledge, if we want to design joyful experiences? First, the knowledge on the importance of making (happy) memories for an individuals wellbeing, is essential. Already in conceptioning, we can ensure to implement experiences that support people in remembering the positive. To enhance design solutions in their positiveness, multisensory experiences (e.g. sounds, scents, touch and tastes) should be considered. On a more implicit basis, we can trigger emotional connections (Struggles & Victories, Connection to Nature & People) or strive to surprise people with the novel & extraordinary.

Source
Wiking, Meik: The Art of Making Memories: How to Create and Remember Happy Moments. Harper Collins: New York 2019.