Recap: Zetteler’s Talk To Us panel on ‘connection’

On Monday 15 February, we invited a few friends around for a chat (in fact, people came from 14 countries across four continents – wowza). It was, you might have guessed, on Zoom. But we didn’t want it to feel like just another Zoom call. Inviting interesting people around to hang out is something we’ve always done. In the Before Times these kinds of events would take place in our office, but despite 2021 being the year we were supposed to be able to rip off our masks and hug like never before, we're not quite there yet. We realised we were missing connection (in all the ways that don't involve WiFi) so much that we decided to welcome a few of our closest to come and chat about this topic, and share their projects and insights. We were also keen to capture the sense of exchange, debate and conversation that was so central to our previous events. 

“Lockdown three has really brought things into focus,” said comedian and presenter Reuben Christian. “Connection, or the lack of it, has made me understand what it means to me.”

It’s not merely a question of physical proximity. What Reuben so brilliantly talked about was honesty and vulnerability. Feeling OK with not being perfect, and sharing that with someone else. Men, in particular, struggle to do this. But some friendships have been able to grow stronger, too. “During lockdown, we’ve weathered storms together, which has made us closer.” 

Harriet Gridley, the UK director of No Isolation, has serious expertise in all things technology. But she opened with a personal reflection that we really appreciated. “I have experienced loneliness myself… There's a real stigma around saying this. My background is in sociology, so I am interested in issues which prevent us from connecting.”

When she first moved to London, like so many others, she felt lonely. To feel alone in a city of millions is a common experience, one which is actively studied more and more. Being isolated can be hugely damaging to your health (comparisons have been made to smoking 15 cigarettes a day).

Technology is increasingly integrated into our daily lives. Smartphones, social media – you get it. But the work of No Isolation is something much more purposeful and urgent than this, designing products for groups such as the elderly and kids with long-term illnesses. We can’t code our problems away but design can improve things if it considers every person’s needs. 

For Dean Brown, designer and research fellow within Goldsmiths’ Interaction Research Studio, a few things came to mind on the subject of connection: working from home, alternative community spaces and the idea of ‘presence without information’. 

Working from home may have been more efficient in one sense, but misses much of the small stuff that’s essential to work. He reflected on some projects he’s working on, and others which are out now (such as Yo Yo Machines). There were shared themes of connection and interaction. We need a space which isn’t our primary residence as well as healthy boundaries from our place of work. 

There are other implications to our changing relationship with distance in lockdown. While teaching for a Scottish institution, Dean was speaking to students in China and Italy. And he had to leave our call at 8pm sharp; he had booked a virtual tour of the River Thames.

What better way to end the night than with a space orchestra for NASA? Designer, artist and filmmaker Nelly Ben Hayoun , recounted her previous project with the space agency as it brings an important perspective to what is happening on Earth right now. Consider: how do dolphins and whales communicate? Her colleagues are exploring questions like this, as well as looking at how fungi establish networks, and so on. Our understanding of connection doesn’t need to be so human-centric; we can consider the extraterrestrial too. 

Transcribing what Nelly says misses out on the energy and passion she brings into how she says it. At points in the call, she invited guests and participants to chip in, to get involved, and even, to show off their apartments with mini-tours on camera. It was a nice reminder that, even over Zoom, we were sharing time together in our own physical locations.

After the initial 45 minutes of presentations – and boy, did they fly by – many of us lingered on the call for another 45. There were pets, dinners, music, and people actually met strangers – remember doing that? We were glad to have people stop by and listen in to interesting conversations with friends talking about life, work and whatever else felt right in the moment. For a little while, it almost didn’t feel like Zoom. 

Plans for Zetteler’s next Talk To Us are underway. Watch this space!