Title of the research : Nostalgia for the Future
under the supervision of Dr. Bart Simon
Abstract : Nostalgia is an old emotion that can produce new things. Conventionally, nostalgia is understood as an emotion tied to individuals, to loss, to the past. Richy Srirachanikorn troubles this conception by pursuing a “Nostalgia for the Future”. In his PhD research, Richy is interviewing people from 3 communities which are nostalgic for the 2000s – an online movement of artists who are bringing back a ‘lost future’; groups of video game developers who are independently working to bring back a beloved and defunct online game that they grew up playing; thrift stores founded in Montreal, targeting y2k nostalgia. Key to Richy’s research is the finding that nostalgia is an old emotion that has much more to offer in communities, as new insights, and for the future.