I admit it started out as a pretty bleak project. I’d had a long day and my weak ankle had given up, along with my contact lenses, and I was tired and hungry and dehydrated. I decided I’d focus on all my flaws. I could record myself apologising or saying please and thank you ad nauseam, or I could get mum to say that I’m a lousy admin assistant (which is true, unfortunately). My images, which have remained mostly the same, would revolve around the way I see the world, which isn’t too clearly. As I said, it wasn’t a happy start.
Flaws evolved into quirks, thank god, as my mood and blood sugar improved. I realised quirks make up a large portion of my day. The way I see the world is defined by my strange little habits and my bad eyesight along with all my other so-called flaws. This was the second stage of my project, which morphed into my eventual focus on my perception of the world.
Ultimately, only the pictures summarising my eyesight and one video of looking up at city buildings lasted out. I eventually came to a theme of existing in the world; a self-portrait with the scenery vividly displayed and the subject left blank.
Audio: I catch the train every day and wanted to parallel going out and coming home (which ties into my day-in-the-life text component). I don’t drive so public transport is a huge part of my daily experience and has certainly shaped me into a person who can easily adapt to getting around an unfamiliar city. It’s also a lot of down-time to stare out the window and think about just about everything.
Images: My poor eyesight and low depth perception are huge in shaping the way I exist in the world. I’m grateful that most of my problems can be (mostly) rectified by a visit to the optometrist Without a visual aid I’d be (literally) lost. Even with them, having terrible depth perception means I’m constantly bumping into things and tripping over. This constant stream of little embarrassments is incredibly annoying but it’s given me a higher tolerance for humiliation, which is great for karaoke nights.
Video: There’s nothing better than getting your script updated and being able to appreciate every leaf on every tree as something sharp and distinct and beautiful. Not always being able to see the world has given me a deep appreciation of how beautiful it is. I think Melbourne is one of the most beautiful cities in the world and I’m always reminding myself to look up and look out.
Text: There’s a very small part of me that wouldn’t mind staying in bed all day. Getting up and out and really existing in the world is often a challenge — I’m shy, I’m introverted, I’m lazy, whatever label you like. But I’m always glad when I do get out. I wanted to parallel that daily challenge of forcing myself to have a full life, to demonstrate that there’s always a little voice in my head saying, “Nah Ellie, let’s go home and take a nap”. Sometimes I get all the way down the list, some days I get part-way and some days I don’t even start it.