I guess I expected there to be more people traffic and more noises from the street.
The people were lightly scattered and cars took priority driving up and down the tram tracks.
I spent a good hour in the street with 8-10 trams passing by both ways, their bells sending echoes through the air.
Remembering the discussions in class while I was out in the streets helped me focus on the poetics of the place.
I sat in my car for a while, using the comfort of the indoors to cast my net across the street, looking up and noticing reflections on the windows of buildings opposite one another.
Tram lines and street wires intercepted one another, all expected of Smith Street.
Oscar and I collected our media similarly, opting to stand still and allow external stimuli to enter the frame, initially positioning it in a complimentary setting.
Our way in collecting the media was essentally the same.
Setting out to try and find collections was harder than was expected because once you head out into the space, it’s really up to the surrounds and anything that enters the space to create that collection.
That being said, I believe that our minds play the primary role in selection of subjects and things of interest.
Oscar collected images of of a lot of flowers on grave sites that constrasted with the man made stone graves – softness vs hardness.
Through these videos, he focused on the beauty of decay, life after death.
I collected videos of classical architecture with poorly written tags in bright to neutral textas and paints – old vs new.
The writing and street are exhibited the underlying aggression of the neighbourhood, as people took to the public streets to voice their opinions on any surface they could find at eye level.
Going to our places was an eye-opener. I know we both felt that because we were actively noticed, we focused on things that we may not have noticed otherwise.
So, it increased our awareness for one and allowed us both to read into things a little deeper.
Crossing the street became a composition, rather than just a simple task of getting from one side to the other.
Trees blowing in the wind were now a time to stop, think and recalibrate – allowing us to slow down.
Another aspect worth noting was the tempo at which this project was undertaken; slow and calculated.
My eyes moved slowly, grazing over the landscape, noticing movements like I was some sort of predator.
Overall I feel we did really well with collecting media with similar undertones.