The site’s name combines the words “interest” and “pin,” in reference to “pin boards,” which are also known in various creative professions as inspiration boards or mood boards — basically a large board onto which appropriated images... are juxtaposed to evoke in the viewer a certain feeling, atmosphere or mood. Once the exclusive province of advertising art directors, designers and teenage girls in boarding-school dormitories, mood boards and their electronic equivalents have exploded online. Not just on Pinterest, but also in the form of dopamine-boosting street-fashion blogs and cryptically named Tumblr blogs devoted to the wordless and explanation-free juxtaposition of, say, cupcakes and teapots and shoes with shots of starched shirts and J.F.K.Mood boards used to be an "exclusive province," something for the "creative professions," and now ordinary people are doing them too. Reminds me of the relationship between journalism and blogging. There's something disconcerting about everybody getting into the act. And the riff-raff who do what was once exclusive must be disparaged. Something missing with these people.
The author of the linked piece Carina Chocano (writing in the NYT Magazine) makes a big point of distinguishing Pinterest picture-posting as different from "curating" and more like advertising, because a curating makes us "more conscious" (like the creative professionals in their exclusive provinces), while advertising makes us less conscious (you peons!).
Why less conscious? Chocano seems to think that operating in the dimension of intuitive desire is lowly — a notion that spikes me to a higher level of consciousness where I observe that Chocano is dealing in elitism and snobbery. (In the New York Times!) She even refers to these pictures as "lifestyle pornography," calling to mind the old feminist argument that pornography shouldn't get First Amendment protection because it doesn't express any ideas. It merely stimulates feelings.
Here's Pinterest if you want a taste of the feeling of being addicted to longing.
ADDED: I just happened upon an aphorism that seems relevant: "In every object there is inexhaustible meaning; the eye sees in it what the eye brings means of seeing."
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27 comments:
Did feminists really believe that?
How interesting.
I'll be bring that up with my wife the next time we have a slanging match about such stuff.
She's got a Ph.D. in sociology and either she'll have something really interesting to say bout it or she'll get that 'wow' look on her face and go running off to read about it.
Win-win for me, really, she's lovely.
-XC
And they still haven't found what they're looking for.
We are building a new home on land we've owned for years and Pinterest has been an excellent place for me to collect ideas from lighting to pathways to chicken coops. It hasn't evoked the "feeling of being addicted to longing for something". HGTV did that. I could feel myself becoming dissatisfied with my perfectly lovely home, so I stopped watching it.
Concerning riff raff:
A nation without dregs and malcontents is orderly, peaceful and pleasant, but perhaps without the seed of things to come.
--Eric Hoffer
The elitists are easily confused when the masses do not conform to their assigned societal roles.
The lines between professional and amateur are getting blurry. First world problem.
I joined Pinterest but I kind of forget about it. Good place for recipes, though.
Dissatisfaction, like necessity, is a mother of invention.
It spurs us to better ourselves and our environs. Well, it can, if you are raised right.
Dissatisfaction can be a font of creativity, but we risk being unsatisfiable; like an addiction, a longing-for that cannot be met. That emptiness gets filled, sometimes at our peril.
Or So I've Heard ;^)
The bladder fills at ones peril
If one's away from home base;
But riff-raff's not afraid to let loose,
After a quick look left/right, just in case.
Pinterest is like crack for the terminally creative.
In the old days, you tore a page out of a magazine, and put it on a board, or in a file, or maybe pile on the desk - that color for the walls, that neat idea for a table setting, that particular combination of plants in the garden, that dress, with that pair of shoes, those cabinets...
There's nothing sinister here, just the ability to add that to your online life, do it quick and easy, one click, one place, and without fear of copyright infringement.
In both cases, it's not about longing, imo, it is about inspiration.
I'm not using Pinterest (yet), but I have the boards, the files, and the piles, and some of those clippings DO find their way into the creation of a room, a garden spot, and many many other things....
So I agree with sumbunnyluvsu "Pinterest is like crack for the terminally creative." Maybe I better go sign up :)
Like anything, it can be both good or bad, depending on the user.
Why does everyone have to have an opinion about EVERYTHING? Its so tedious.
The elite are often annoyed by the ability of the Internet to flatten the hierarchy.
Email had a similar effect in business.
Hate to say it, but Ms CountChocula needs a man and some kids real bad.
And I can't figure out whether the Pinterest home page looks more like my desk or the Blonde's.
God, what a pile of pretentious twaddle.
Re: "curation": My husband used that word recently. He was conducting at a music festival in Colorado, and drove there (we're in Western Oregon, so it's a long drive), and I pulled a bunch of varied stuff off the CD shelves to get him through OR and ID and WY and UT and CO. It was mostly discs he probably hadn't heard -- I'm the CD nut in this house -- with a few old favorites mixed in.
When he got back last week, he said that he didn't rummage around in the bag looking for something he wanted to hear; he just reached in and grabbed something, trusting to my curation. Which he said was first-class :-)
"without fear of copyright infringement"
How does that work?
(I haven't looked into it.)
@Pogo - more song quote
"You come to see
what you've come to see
You come to see
But you never come to know"
Kinky Freidman
Here's some copyright opinion: "It is... wrong to believe that copyright holders must now take measures to keep people from copying, displaying or distributing their work. For example, Pinterest can offer a “No Pin” meta tag that copyright holders can use on their websites to prevent someone from uploading content, but it is not a defense if the copyright holders do not take advantage of it. This is a band aid that may reduce the number of copyright violations, but it does not create a duty for the copyright holder to protect his interests."
I would think that if it's the product seller's photograph, the pinning works as a free ad and is very helpful, but often the photo comes from someone other than the entity that would like to sell you the product.
I've tried, but I just can't get into pinterest. However, both my sisters are very creative and crafty, they love that site. I simply let them find the good recipes and have them send me a copy. I leave the cake decorating and sewing ideas to them.
Althouse said...
Mood boards used to be an "exclusive province," something for the "creative professions," and now ordinary people are doing them too.
Does this mean I now can buy one of those miniature basketball hoops above a waste basket that those creative ad-exec types use to kick-back when they're all being so creativey and irreverent.
Why does everyone have to have an opinion about EVERYTHING?
What I can't understand is why anyone would CARE that some people like to post recipes, picture, tablescapes and what have you on the internet. I get an opinion, like 'it's too cluttered' or 'it's fun'...I don't get why people would be upset that somebody else is doing it.
I guess that's the utter lack of busybody in me.
I find Pinterest very useful. No addiction or longings. Just a handy way to gather and archive, like Earth Girl, ideas for my house and garden. Shoes and clothing styles that I like are also pinned so I can go directly to the on line store and buy what I want at a later date.
In addition, my daughter and some friends also use the site. It is really helpful to see the styles that they like so that when I want to buy a gift for their new home or a personal gift, I have better idea of what they would want.
When I volunteered to knit somethings for my daughter, I made a board on my site for "Knitting and Crafting Ideas". Posted many examples of things that I would be interested in making, capable of making and she could browse my board and indicate what she would like to wear. There is ZERO point in taking the time to knit or craft a gift that won't be worn or appreciated.
Some people, like this woman writer, just try to make things more complicated than they really are. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar and a photo board is just a photo board.
DBQ
that about sums it up for me as well.
I have a board where I exclusively collect pictures of motorcycles that I like. Style, color, modifications. It helps me collect ideas for a project that I one day wish to start.
Friends convinced me to sign up for it. Like Shanna, I've forgotten about it. I don't think it's very interesting if you aren't into crafting or shopping and aren't working on a major home renovation project. Seems to be mostly stuff.
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