The task we carried out in our seminar this week consisted of a similar task that Georges Perec completed. He spent a few days in a Parisian café documenting everything he saw, smelt and heard. His main point was that ‘one must see everything’. I think this is a valid and valuable point that we should all consider. Everything is worth looking at and not only the big attractions in life; the minor details matter aswell. This especially applies to society nowadays due to us often being consumed by our mobiles and not looking at our surroundings. In relation to this text, during our seminar we went outside of the room to an area and documented what we could see, hear and smell. I went to the bench area that is at the side of the Minerva building and overlooks the Brayford. Below is what I documented:-
- The trees rustled and the wind blew.
- The distant traffic throughout the town was consistent.
- The sound of talking and voices was also constant with people passing consistently. Footsteps were also consistent, with crunches and heavier sounds depending on the terrain.
- The sky was a bright blue and full of fluffy white clouds, slowly drifting by.
- The swans were pruning themselves and making some noise. Birds were also singing.
- I saw the big Minerva building with all it’s assets. One of these that stood out to me was the many windows that looked like pools due to the sun hitting them and the reflections.
- I also saw many, many boats. I did end up seeing a motor boat and heard the ‘buzz’ of the engine as it passed.
- A man was pulling a suitcase along, which made a loud noise on the concrete.
- A litter picker came by with a rustling bin bag and squeaky picker. He hollered at a friend in a thick accent I could not make out; I believe he mentioned the word keys? I did here the other friend retrieve some keys.
- A male then exited the Minerva building and lit a cigarette and patiently smoked it.
This exercise taught me that when you take the time to listen and look you find that many details become apparent.
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