Reykjavík Grapevine - sep. 2020, Blaðsíða 17

cloud, the realm of digital connec-
tion and communication, where
small talk dies and directness and
productivity booms. But Bergur
believes that we still have some
power over the situation.
“Tech doesn’t have an intrinsic
value of only going forward. It’s
a tool that we can even use to go
backwards in this case. It’s never
been this easy to cancel stuff for
example. The pandemic won’t re-
ally shatter your worldview, we’ve
had pandemics before … I wasn’t
very fond of Skype meetings,
Zoom calls, etc. But now I see that
in order to communicate I have to
be more understanding of that and
it kind of put me in my place. It
has persuaded me that it can be a
possibility for future meetings and
I think this will be part of the new
normal.”
Context Matters
But who decides what’s normal?
Well, we do apparently. Just by ex-
isting in any sort of shared space,
we are constantly creating context,
Bergur argues. When we meet up
at work, for example, chat a bit
about the Eurovision Song Contest
and thereby poke each other a bit
for reactions that in turn deter-
mine our actions and build com-
mon ground. That’s something
technology can’t really do for us.
“Software isn’t really aware of
us building context and sees this
phase as a waste of time, which it’s
obviously not, it’s a very vital part
of communication,” Bergur says.
Values and experiences are still
ours to share, even if we immortal-
ize them online, which might lead
to a new digital kind of legacy, but
we’ll always need a type of frame-
work, a connection in our minds
for things to have meaning.
“I think most people relate to
the idea of context being missing,”
says Bergur. “I think it might be
the reason we’ve become some-
what apathetic to politics, for
example. We don’t feel that it re-
lates to us anymore. We might be
individually fighting for different
causes in different geographical
areas. We’re lacking these systems
of thoughts.”
The cloud, ever expanding like
the universe itself, looms over us,
but it’s not all doom and gloom, ac-
cording to Bergur. It’s never been
easier to point out social issues
and connect them, for example
and the physical world isn’t disap-
pearing. We’re just adding a new
layer. Sometimes things aren’t
strictly good or bad. They just are.
Bergur Ebbi’s latest book
'Screenshot' has been translated
into English by Grapevine alum-
nus and award-winning transla-
tor Larissa Kyzer. Grab your copy
of 'Screenshot' in the Grapevine’s
online shop.
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17The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 07— 2020
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