UNIVERSITY OF NOVA GORICA GRADUATE SCHOOL ...

landscape, however, less strict eligibility criteria are imposed for a person to be qualified to be
commemorated and remembered publicly, i.e. present in the public sphere: several online
memorial sites enable ‗ordinary‘ citizens to create a digital memorial for their loved ones and
make it globally available, side by side with celebrity memorials, 9/11 victims or the victims of
the Holocaust. Now, what does this mean for remembering, collective or individual? As has been
argued above, the alleged democratisation of remembering to some extent at least opens up new
spaces for remembering and mourning. 238 Moreover, technological tools and correspondingly
developing cultural practices to commemorate private loss publicly permeate the very structural
frameworks of remembering: along the public (on- and offline) commemoration of nationally
acknowledged heroes and anniversaries the distinctly private remembering, previously confined to
family and friends, has secured its space (not necessarily attention) in public.
By becoming a public event, an individual‘s transpiring is inscribed into the DME and the broader
socio-cultural contexts of remembering. It is brought closer to the collectivity of mourning,
regardless of mourners‘ spatio-temporal location. An interesting case in this respect is the above
mentioned Light the pixel – The Online Memorial, 239 clearly playing on the metaphor of lighting a
candle. The website was created by Ariel Demi after Michael Jackson died: ―I figured there is a
void for fans who want to pay tribute from anywhere in the world. As I see it, it‘s a unique, visual
and somewhat intimate approach. Light a Pixel allows anyone to pay tribute and/or create an
online memorial page just for their loved ones for free.‖ 240
In the press release, the website promotes itself as follows: ―Light a Pixel (www.lightapixel.com)
introduces a new, creative approach to online memorial. Instead of the usual guest-book candle
tributes, you can light a pixel on an image, with a tribute. The pixels lit slowly reveal a colorful,
bright image.‖ As opposed to early online commemoration facilities (signing a guest-book, which
is a typical remediation of offline commemoration practice), the website claims to offer more in
terms of technologically enhanced mourning experience. ―Light a Pixel also features a section for
famous people who passed away where fans can pay tribute from anywhere in the world using this
simple visual method. Famous people like Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley have their online
memorials. Whether you want to light a pixel as a tribute or create an online memorial for your
loved ones, it‘s free. No trials, no fee. All you have to do is create a memorial and upload an
238 See ―Archiving, Techno-topia and Pervasive Scepsis‖ section of this chapter.
239 See www.lightapixel.com. Note: the domain name expired 17 July and is pending renewal or deletion, accessed 23
August 2011. This poses further issues with the preservation and availability of digital memorials that often depend on
payable service.
240 Jim Cherry, ―Jim Morrison Memorial, Light a Pixel,‖ examiner.com, http://www.examiner.com/the-doors-innational/jim-morrison-memorial-light-a-pixel,
accessed 23 August 2011.
110