I know it’s just a pomegranate that I cut up. It’s nothing special. It’s a very ordinary thing to do.
But that particular afternoon, the midday sun was particularly bright and that seems to make the colours of the pomegranate on my tray pop! Visually, it was as delicious as the fruit itself.
Read MoreIt wasn’t until the empty plot next-door to us turned into a large construction site that we really realised not only how much we value relative peace and quiet but, also how much we take sound for granted as an aspect of Super Ordinary Life.
Read MoreThere is something about a lifeless court. A place designed and created for activity momentarily still and dormant is somehow, moving to me.
Read MorePlaygrounds are a kind of treasure trove for any one mad about colour, texture, shadow and shape abstractions. They nudge us to reconnect with the kid within us and go "play" with the sights and angles with all the enthusiasm as the actual kids do on the swings and slides. We learn through play, and age shouldn't take this away from us.
Read MoreOne glance at Tekla's Instagram account and we were smitten by her ability to extract perfect colourful compositions from both the ordinary and the less obvious places that she visits.
Tekla Evelina Severin is a multi-talented interior architect who also flexes her creativity (with incredible effect), in art direction, set design and photography. Tekla is based in Stockholm.
Website: http://www.teklaevelinaseverin.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/teklan/?hl=en
"To look is to learn, if you listen carefully"
Per Arnolfini
It's a good time to take a step back, sit down, and get back to the down-to-earth basics. Sometimes when we are explaining what Super Ordinary Life is all about, it seems that the common words we use to refer to visual perception are as overused, misused and taken for granted as the mundane sights we talk about.
So just to break it down, for our reference as much as our reader's:
We SEE things whether we like it or not.
We LOOK at things when we want to see something with intention.
We WATCH things that move
We OBSERVE when we look even harder and really think about it too.
To NOTICE can be a happenstance occurrence - but to notice means to become aware of something which can then be observed.
There are, of course constant instances where the distinctions between the words are blurred or stand too close to call without a bit of debate. The main point is that having a brief mental note of these words actually helps take in more of our visual surroundings.
There's a nice analogy plucked from the pages of a most observant and beloved detective that brings together our thoughts nicely:
In “A Scandal in Bohemia,” Sherlock Holmes instructs Dr. Watson on the difference between seeing and observing:
“When I hear you give your reasons,” I remarked, “the thing always appears to me to be so ridiculously simple that I could easily do it myself, though at each successive instance of your reasoning, I am baffled until you explain your process. And yet I believe that my eyes are as good as yours.”
“Quite so,” he answered, lighting a cigarette, and throwing himself down into an armchair. “You see, but you do not observe. The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen the steps which lead up from the hall to this room.”
“Frequently.”
“How often?”
“Well, some hundreds of times.”
“Then how many are there?”
“How many? I don't know.”
“Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is just my point. Now, I know that there are seventeen steps, because I have both seen and observed.”
The exchange really shook me. Feverishly, I tried to remember how many steps there were in our own house, how many led up to our front door (I couldn’t). And for a long time afterward, I tried to count stairs and steps whenever I could, lodging the proper number in my memory in case anyone ever called upon me to report. I’d make Holmes proud (of course, I’d promptly forget each number I had so diligently tried to remember – and it wasn’t until later that I realized that by focusing so intently on memorization, I’d missed the point entirely and was actually being less, not more observant)."
A few years ago, Cereal Magazine published and interview with Hara Kenya. Of course it is always fascinating to get some extra insight into the design thinking of such a maestro, but that's not what caught our attention.
Read MoreIt's curious how the mind can take something and run with it isn't it? There I was - gazing at the beautiful imperfections and tactile textures on our last post whilst my mind was busy deciding for me that creases are in fact - oh-so-beautiful-and-fascinating.
Read MoreTucked down a side street in busy Covent Garden, we walked into this sight.
Prior to seeing this. I would never have guessed at how pleased the sight of peachy pink vinyl covered shop windows would make me. I would also not have guessed that I would shamelessly stand there staring before approaching to touch the air bubbles and creases that were so alluringly tactile in that moment.
Read More“To be away from home and yet to feel oneself everywhere at home; to see the world, to be at the centre of the world, and yet to remain hidden from the world—impartial natures which the tongue can but clumsily define. The spectator is a prince who everywhere rejoices in his incognito.”
Charles Baudelaire
We had a bit of a lightbulb movement recently, the kind accompanied by imaginary little bells ringing and a big smile! The word "flâneur" recently fell into our sights and it struck a chord.
If case like us, you haven't come across it before, the term flâneur was conjured up by French poet Charles Baudelaire, who thought that the simple act of walking down the street is a dramatic adventure rich with ideas and sensory experiences and the flaneur is very much intune to this.
Credit: Yasumi Location: Shoreditch, London
Flâneurs, according to Baudelaire, aren't always walking with aspecific purpose in mind, not always walking to go somewhere or get something. They are observing their environments with eyes wide open. They are "botanists of the pavement", perceptive of modern urban life. Passionate pedestrian spectators that notice things and relish what they discover.
Credit: Yasumi Location: City of London
Sound familiar? We highly recommend large doses flâneurism as often as you possibly can.
The candid photos on this post may not be Super Ordinary, in fact they seem quite the opposite. Yet, they are taken during 2 of my most mundane moments, the walk to work and the walk to collect my son from nursery. It's so easy to fall into complacency during these times, to just fall into autopilot and "get there". Yet if I had, then I would never have seen these curious of curious sights. And they made me smile
It is not only rewarding visually, but taking a leisurely stroll unencumbered by urgency, following your gut, feet or nose, whilst noticing things helps us refresh and restore us mentally too. Noticing things as you walk around is mental ambulation. It's a great way to clear away cobwebs, escape the doldrums and more. Even our most familiar streets can bring new inspiration.
With a descriptive approach inspired by George Perec's Life: A User's Manual, we enjoy envisioning the probable scenarios behind some of the situations we notice doing our ordinary daily movements.
Read MoreOur coffee table is currently wrapped in thick layers of industrial bubble wrap, separated into 3 sections, and hidden under our bed and at the back of a wardrobe - safe and sound from our boisterous toddler. But that won't stop us taking inspiration from Jordan Bunker's "Coffee table reads" and sharing what is on our makeshift coffee table.
Read More"It is baffling to find someone with eyes no better than our own, who sees things we are unable to perceive."
George Nelson
Born in America in 1908, George Nelson is a central figure in Midcentury century design and one of the founders of American Modernism. A true polymath, Nelson was a trained architect, celebrated industrial designer, graphic designer, teacher and one time Director of Design for Herman Miller where he was responsible for recruiting Charles and Ray Eames, Isamu Noguchi and Alexander Girard. As a furniture designer, he had the ability to reinterpret everyday items as works of art so it is no wonder that he was responsible for some of the most iconic furniture and home accessories in modernity. Yet in our opinion, his legacy extends his designs.
Most notable to Super Ordinary Life, when George Nelson was not designing or running his office of over 70 members, he was never without his camera. He was not on an artistic pursuit of artful compositions. He was relentlessly snapping away to record the things that caught his eye. It was from this fascination with images that his obsession with what he termed Visual Literacy was born.
VISUAL LITERACY
is a concept essential to Super Ordinary Life, but what exactly does it mean?
In a highly simplified summary, George Nelson's Visual Literacy boils down to the following:
Visual Literacy is the ability to interpret the non-verbal messages that we see in the chaotic manmade environment.
Literacy is deemed as one of the central foundations of a civil society yet most people are largely and complacently visually illiterate.
In a plea to encourage an education in Visual Literacy, Nelson delivered lectures and wrote books and articles for several publications to encourage us to sharpen our visual skills and challenge us to reexamine the way we see and what we overlook.
He was convinced that we can learn to read images in the same way that we read words - through experience, exposure and practice.
On the premise that everything in the man made world has been designed, He sought to encourage scholars and designers to use visual literacy to question and evaluate the reasons and results of these things. Vital skills in our ability to think critically about our built environment.
"Seeing...
is an intellectual aesthetic exercise which increases one's inalienable capital, riches that can be accumulated without cost, once acquired, cannot be lost or stolen."
The concept of visual literacy as a means to a sharpening our observational and in fact verbal acuity is hugely influential to almost every aspect of Super Ordinary Life. Noticing, observing, seeing and then evaluating and questioning what it all means are our basic everyday tools. There times that an entire set of photos that we've taken of things that we've noticed during our daily movements or on our travels seem to refer back to what we are learning from Nelson's way of looking at the world.
"The language of vision...
uses light, shape, colour, texture, lines, patterns, similarities, contracts and movement"
Sometimes we wonder what Nelson would make of today's Instagram crazy world. Would he have an account? Bet it would be incredible. Yet, his legacy has relevant messages for us on this too. His Visual Literacy serves as reminder in this instagram driven world that what we capture can go beyond looking for perfectly beautiful shots that conform to ideals of how we are trying to present ourselves, capturing pictures can and should be a visual adventure that encourages us and others to interpret our chaotic visual environments. Of course this is rather academic and design biased. Yet it is just the tip of the iceberg. There are more holistic aspects to Visual Literacy, that we discuss another time.
Curiously, the single George Nelson designed item that we own is his Eye Clock. It is a cherished item and an article of great beauty, constructed in walnut and brass, designed in the 1950's it's retained it timeless appeal. Long before we dreamed up Super Ordinary Life the clock has been quietly watching over as years pass, inspiring us to look harder and look again at the world around us.
References: George Nelson, How to See ISBN:978-0714873831, George Nelson Foundation, Herman Miller How To See
We genuinely believe that inspiration can be found everywhere and if you are of the mindset to tap into it, your life probably feels really fulfilling.
Read MoreWhat looks like a sudden and violent end to this panel of reinforced glass, looks like art to others, like us. Can anything be more subjective than art? Even the perception of what falls within its boundaries, is subjective.
Read More"How do we define ugliness? There is no Boyle's Law to tell everyone precisely what beauty is"
George Nelson
Read MoreMichael Wolf lives in Hong Kong and was born Munich. We admire his ability to document and observe the subtleties of life in mega cities. Our current favourite theme of his involves capturing the lost laundry of Hong Kong:
The the idea of "accidental art" has been a long-term fixation of ours. Examples of colours and textures brought together by chance, age or even neglect can be satisfyingly artful to our eyes.
Read More"I'm inspired by everyday scenarios, things you pass by and normally don't pay attention to, but that for some reason stands out this particular time. It can be a parking lot filled with cars in the same colour, or that the pants you are wearing have the exact same shade as the chair you just sat down in. Or basically anything you encounter in your daily life but never really paid attention to before." Michael Johansson in an interview with Dazed Magazine
Utilising a plethora of mundane familiar items including discarded furniture and household goods, Swedish Artist Michael Johansson reimagines the possibilities of the ordinary into extraordinary sculptures that evoke "Tetris" feelings in most of us.
I enjoy identifying the various objects he's incorporated into each of his works and also find it so satisfying how all the elements fit together so neatly. I wonder if all the storage spaces in his home are stacked in this way?
All the above photos are taken from Michael Johansson's website. Do visit it for more information and pictures of his work.
I caught myself gazing at the arbitrary items left on my work bench, side or even kitchen table. Curiously these elements of clutter looked so beautiful to me.
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