On March 11th, Japan was hit hard by natural disasters—a devastating earthquake and tsunamis—leading to widespread damage, the results of which are still being grappled with as the country fights to stave off nuclear catastrophe. Residents of the affected areas were forced to seek shelter in schools and gymnasiums, and the state of emergency in the country’s nuclear power plants has caused leading global authorities to question our investment in nuclear power as an energy source.But even (or perhaps especially) in times of crisis, creative minds seek ways to capture, convey and reconcile traumatic experiences. Earlier this month we presented the work of VJ Um Amel, who created digital artwork from trending topics on Twitter during Egypt’s period of revolution and political crisis. Although unrelated, both of these significant events have inundated our social networks, and creative thinkers have appropriated this spontaneous user-generated content into artwork–offering a more subjective, aesthetically inclined presentation of journalistic fact.The latest media to emerge from the unorthodox trend: Two Fourty Six PM, a collaboration between Everything is Fun designers Ramin Afshar and Tom Galle. Afshar and Galle set a grid of 15 YouTube videos recorded during the initial earthquake, at 2:46 PM. These videos show a first-person perspective of the quake in homes, airports, streets, shops and cars.These 15 videos captured the damage as it unfolded in real-time, and the Two Fourty Six PM project simply presents them simultaneously, yet a message emerges. All these amateur videographers shared an experience, and captured it for posterity.The immediacy of social media can create historical relevance. As technology proliferates, citizen journalists can mobilize. When broadcasting their message across the Internet, the whole world will take notice.To aid relief efforts in Japan, make a donation here.
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