May 26, 2023
Brief 8: Energi Utstilling, før og etter
seen from France
seen from United Kingdom
seen from United States
seen from Switzerland
seen from Türkiye
seen from Switzerland
seen from Spain
seen from China
seen from Switzerland
seen from United States
seen from Netherlands
seen from Algeria
seen from United States
seen from Hungary
seen from Japan
seen from Malaysia
seen from France
seen from China
seen from Italy
seen from Malaysia
Brief 8: Energi Utstilling, før og etter
smallobservations_07
How someone learns to play a game A child, of about ten. One of the adults here must be a parent, or guardian.
“Clive, this one is fun” said a man, and the child moved forward. Presumably they know each other.
“How many tokens is it?” he asks the older man.
“Two” the man says, giving the child two tokens.
The child goes up to the machine. He looks at the screen and around the box. It has two rubber gloves hanging limply along the side, and two palms on the top of the box. The child seems to be too short to reach the hands. He firmly places his feet at the miniature platform and reaches up to see if he can reach the palms. He reaches them only if he is standing on his the tip of his toes. Or, well, shoes. He stands back down, reassured that he will be able to use the machine, and puts the two tokens into it. Then before the machine starts he has placed his hands into the machines palms and waits for it to begin.
smallobservations_06
How someone uses their phone in public The tube is shaking. But her grip is firmly on her phone. There are several instances where it looks as if she is going to drop it. Somehow she doesn’t. Must be a tight grip.
It looks as if she’s reading something. Because her eyes move, but she doesn’t scroll. Not often at least. I’ve not seen her scroll since I began looking at her. Maybe she is pretending to read, but the screen casts a light fluorescent light in her face, so it’s definitely on. She must be scrolling, or the screen would turn black. She doesn’t hold on to anything in the cart, sitting firmly in her seat, not looking up from her phone. She doesn’t even have music in her ears. She just stares at the phone, looking as if what she’s reading is the most important thing she’s ever had to read. A slight movement on her thumb, she scrolls down, and continues reading.
smallobservations_05
How a bird behaves It’s on the ground, nibbling at something on the platform. It doesn’t look like a pigeon, nor any other birds I know of. It seems content with being around people, it just bops around, but doesn’t take flight. Its little head moves around a bit, before it hops a few centimetres. Its head suddenly moves back and forth a lot, before the wings spread out and it’s gone. I wasn’t paying proper attention, and it was just gone.
smallobservations_04
How someone making food or drinks uses the space around them She says something loud to the man next to him. Presumably the coffee order of the person who just payed. He starts grinding coffee, and moves left and right behind the woman to get a cup. She turns her head towards the line in front of the bar and yells out for the next person. He has moved back towards the espressomachine and has started making a coffee. He goes to her left side and picks up something from underneath the counter. She moves behind him to get to the display on the left of him, picks out a croissant and moves in a straight line back to the register. He went back to the espressomachine whilst she was getting the pastry, and is now steaming milk.
smallobservations_03
How someone works out where they are. She ran quickly through the bustling crowd. The traffic had stopped, and she ran over the street, but just as she moved the cars started moving. She stopped, or almost stopped. Her legs were still moving, although she was in the same spot. It looks as if she muttered something under her breath. Her head kept moving to each side, as if looking for new cars, though this was a one-way lane. Defeated by the sudden rush of cars, she scampered back to the pavement. The crowd walking along it was much too large for her to keep her former pace, even if she thrusted through. Across the road, into Hyde Park was the only way she could keep up her speed. Or get back to what was her speed. She ran for it, and a taxi honked. She got over the street and vanished into the park.
smallobservations_02
How someone in a cafe makes themselves comfortable “Is this seat taken?” She asks me.
I shake my head, “No, it’s free”
“Do you mind? I’m just having a quick cuppa whilst waiting”
“It’s fine”
She takes off her jacket, a puffy orange one. The jacket looks quite too warm for this day. Places it on the back of the chair and puts down her bag.
“Do you mind watching my things? I have to buy coffee”
I pretend to look up from my phone, not showing her I’ve been paying attention.
“Sure thing”
She smiles and goes to the barista. She comes back empty handed and sits down. The jacket takes up quite a bit of space in the chair, and it looks uncomfortable sitting there. She moves about a bit, taking her phone out of her back pocket and leans back. She keeps moving around, as if not comfortable, and then removes the jacket from the chair, placing it on top of her bag. She sits back down into the chair and leans back whilst still on her phone. She scrolls and occasionally chortles to herself. A barista comes over with the coffee and places it on the table. They smile to each other and the woman instantly grabs the coffee, with steam coming off and takes a sip. She grimaces and mutters under her breath before placing it back on the plate. She leans back and places her left foot over her right knee, sinking into the chair as she does.
smallobservations_01
How a stranger looks at a museum exhibit His black coat moved as he moved his legs backwards. There was no flow of air, so it had to be the movement of his legs. He’d been standing in front of a reproduction of David. He’d been reading the information plaque near the sculpture’s feet. Occasionally looking up. He seemed to be awe-struck at the sheer size of the sculpture. Moving his head upwards as he walked back. His eyes were darting to different body parts. The hands, the legs, the eyes. His eyes stared into - or as close as you can get to staring into - the eyes of this humungus piece of art. He then took up his phone, turned around and apparently took a selfie with it, before walking away.