Designblog

Do contemporary subcultures replace folklore in our globalized world?

modern_folklore

“giant skeleton found during excavation”

The picture above was initially made for a contest on photo manipulation, but once it was free on the net, there were immediate claims of it being real (partly supported by some religions that believe human beings were once giants).
Hundreds of hoax images like this circulate the Internet daily and, when they possess one or more elements of credibility and reach a group of people inclined to believe them due to a religious, political or moral standpoint, a certain hype around them will be created and our mailboxes will be invaded by more spam.
This phenomenon is characteristic of our times and is a part of our common knowledge, being thus also a part of our modern folklore.

Drowning_by_Images

Icons are images or representations, symbols linked to commands or signs that stand for its object by virtue of a resemblance to it. Classic icons in folklore are for example the tulips that form always an instant link in our minds to the Netherlands. A similar icon is the cross for Christianity or the peace-symbol for the hippies. What are the main icons of today’s folklore? Which symbols will in decades to come remind us of this time? In our day and age the borders between countries are becoming less eminent with globalization and through the Internet communication is becoming ever faster. To deal with this intercultural computer-based community we are all becoming a part of, icons are vital in order to simplify for us these machines and also to express emotion in a typed conversation. Computer icons and emoticons are designed icons with a history, they are very important to our time and they will continue to be the true icons of modern folklore.

The_Icons_of_Modern_Folklore

Israel is only 60 years old, so it’s hard to define what exactly Israeli folklore is. One thing is certain – if you’re an Israeli between the ages of 18 to 25 you must own at least one big trekking backpack. On high-school graduation, on the 18^th birthday or on any other event that happens to take place around that time of your life, the most important gift you will receive is the big backpack for the following years. First, the military service years, in which the backpack is almost a status symbol among the guys, after that maybe a year in a kibbutz, and then the big trip to finalize these last few years. In the end, the backpack is covered in patches, sketches, notes and symbols it had accumulated over these years and becomes a sort of journal. I think it symbolizes an experience that everyone has to go through and which is a big part of growing up in Israel.