Attitude 107: Analogue

When was the last time we remembered the (im)perfect beauty of the analogue world? That we developed a roll of film without knowing what the result would be, or let the record player play, savouring each new song at length? There is an indulgent calm in these prosaic gestures, a kind of consolation when we forget our routine and our weary body surrenders to unhurried mornings and evenings, far from the immediacy of technology.

While still basking in a certain stillness of the summer season, this Analogue edition invites us to rediscover those simple and palpable pleasures so often overshadowed by the digital floodlight. Between remote hideaways that encourage enjoyable reading and conversations, design fairs that once again re-open and a selection of creative people passionate about art and artisan crafts, the following pages will reveal a wealth of patterns, textures, eras and places, all of which have the power of bringing back the beauty of old memories.

As far as more recent references are concerned, you’ll certainly enjoy learning about the work of Ana Lamata, a Spanish hat designer living in the UK, as well as the Portuguese artist Manuela Pimentel, who finds new coordinates to develop her work in the posters and tiles of Porto’s streets. If we add to these names other better-known ones – such as Fabrizio Casiraghi from Milan and the American duo Commune Design – we are certain that you will have plenty of grounds for long and pleasurable hours of inspiration.

Finally, it is with a certain nostalgia that we recollect the delights of once again photographing with a Rolleiflex, deliberately redeemed for the preparation of this issue’s Mood section, more analogue (and nostalgic) than ever. Also, the return to the fairs in Milan, Copenhagen and the Walk&Talk festival, in the Azores, would prove to be truly inspirational, not only because of the way they continue to promote spontaneous conversations and chance encounters, but also because of the equally stimulating and invigorating idiosyncrasies of these regions.

Perhaps the acronym JOMO, shortened from the English expression The Joy of Missing Out, adequately conveys the purpose of yet another edition: a call to fully savour life, without the anxiety of wanting to be everywhere at all times. To leave angst behind and learning to savour a time that is ours, without constraints, has become a rare privilege these days. Let’s fight for this.