Lilli Sihvonen profile picture
Lilli
Sihvonen
Postdoctoral Researcher, Art History, Musicology and Media Studies
FT
Centre of Excellence in Game Culture Studies; DISCE – Developing Inclusive and Sustainable Creative Economies

Contact

Arcanuminkuja 1
20500
Turku

Areas of expertise

enduring product relationships
planned obsolescence
planned revivification
re-releasing of cultural products
cultural neo-production process
board games
Kimble
media archaeology

Biography

I hold a PhD in Digital Culture. I defended my PhD in the summer of 2022 with the dissertation titled "The Enduring Product Relationships of the Board Game Kimble – The Cultural Neo-production Processes of Products". 

I am currently working as a Postdoctoral Researcher and Research Team Coordinator at the Centre of Excellence in Game Culture Studies at the University of Turku.

I have worked on several game culture studies projects as well as in the Horizon2020-funded DISCE project, which studied the creative economy in ten European cities.

I have strong expertise in qualitative research methods.

In my own research, I am particularly interested in emotional sustainability and promoting it within our consumer culture.

Teaching

I have taught the following courses (in Finnish):

Advanced special studies: 

The Afterlife of Online Phenomena and its Research, fall 2024, shared teaching with Elina Vaahensalo, Digital Culture, Landscape and Cultural Heritage, University of Turku

Media Archaeology – The Study of Weird Media, spring 2022, Degree Program of Cultural Production and Landscape Studies, University of Turku


Planned obsolescence and media archaeology, spring 2020 (online), Degree Program of Cultural Production and Landscape Studies, University of Turku


Planned obsolescence and media archaeology, spring 2018, Degree Program of Cultural Production and Landscape Studies, University of Turku

Basic studies:

The production of digital culture: Planning and producing a game archive, autumn 2016, Degree Program of Cultural Production and Landscape Studies, University of Turku

Research

My dissertation addresses the cultural neo-production process as an example of how a sustainable and enduring product relationship is formed. The cultural neo-production process consists of the interplay and alternation between planned obsolescence and revivification during a product’s life cycle. The purpose of planned obsolescence is to limit the product's use and functionality, and in this process, its role is to remove the product from the market. Revivification, on the other hand, is based on nostalgia-driven revival and reintroduction of past products into the market.

I examine this process through the example of the Kimble board game. Through Kimble, the key elements of the cultural neo-production process are revealed, including history, enduring features, and changes, as well as the object’s biographies and usage culture. Additionally, Kimble reflects the preliminary terminology of the cultural neo-production process, shaping the structure, stages, and conditions of the process—what is minimally required for the process to occur. I argue that planned obsolescence is not a necessary part of the process.

In my dissertation, I construct a model of the cultural neo-production process, which can be utilized as a tool for both research and product development. My research in this area continues with product comparisons and further development of the model. I am particularly interested in testing it as a basis for emotional sustainability, whether or not it could help us form longer lasting relationships with our products. 

Other areas of interest to me include material culture, consumption, sustainable development, board games and game culture, as well as media archaeology.


Publications

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Heljakka, Aarne (2019)

Kansallisbiografia
Lilli Sihvonen
(A1 Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä lehdessä )

Hybrid Social Play Final Report (2018)

Paavilainen Janne, Heljakka Katriina, Arjoranta Jonne, Kankainen Ville, Lahdenperä Linda,
Koskinen Elina, Kinnunen Jani, Sihvonen Lilli, Nummenmaa Timo, Mäyrä Frans, Koskimaa Raine, Suominen Jaakko
(Julkaistu kehittämis- tai tutkimusraportti taikka -selvitys (D4))