Abject Objects

Catherine Penfold-Waxman: 1st Nov 2005 - 20:28 GMT

Ahhh, rubbish bins (instead of garbage cans) how I miss them...

I like the texture of the concrete. It has little divots, like mini rugby players have run over it.

elaine: 1st Nov 2005 - 21:02 GMT

here's one just for you, then -

Catherine Penfold-Waxman: 1st Nov 2005 - 22:43 GMT

Thank you! Stripes and dots do go together, whatever Trinny and Suzannah say.

kc: 1st Nov 2005 - 22:56 GMT

great title. although as you look at them the objects begin to seem weirdly festive...the blue and the red, or the way the paint on that bucket in the second somehow manages to create an illusion of glitteryness, as if it were aluminum foil...

vz: 1st Nov 2005 - 23:43 GMT

to photograph something, even something abject, is to aestheticize it

elaine: 2nd Nov 2005 - 02:37 GMT

well, true. even something like this is redeemed by the glossiness of the photograph/internet, the sunny day, and my pretty framing

and there is abjection in literature as well, and somehow that is similar, the very description of the object being so loving lifts it. is it impossible, then, to speak about abjection?

elaine: 2nd Nov 2005 - 02:46 GMT

and even the moldy bread in the junction box larder isn't quite miserable enough...

actually, it is slightly worrying that it seems to be completely untouched. i took that photo today, and the previous posting on october 9th, by which time you would have thought the ratty boys would have had it. now i don't know much about rodents, but i know they recognise food when they see it, begging the question....

Peter: 2nd Nov 2005 - 18:56 GMT

aha! this is a good entry, elaine. i love seeing fascination in the mundane. some of my fav entries on here have been people sharing everyday/pastoral stuff like this, the sort of stuff thats easy to overlook if you see it every day, knowing that its different enough (or aesthetic enough?) to make it worth sharing.

this one is great, too:

elaine: 2nd Nov 2005 - 19:07 GMT

harr, i put that one in for you! right up your alley, i thought

Peter: 2nd Nov 2005 - 19:09 GMT

totally. what does the double-yellow line mean in the uk, right next to the curb? no parking? we have em only down the center of the road, where they mean no passing.

Catherine Penfold-Waxman: 2nd Nov 2005 - 19:31 GMT

No parking. Even not waiting (I think).

kc: 3rd Nov 2005 - 22:30 GMT

is that a leaf in that lunch? Here I am seeing the aesthetic appeal and also feeling my stomach turning...

elaine: 3rd Nov 2005 - 23:03 GMT

yep, here's leaf in yr lunch. although arguably leaf is nearly food. i find vomit in the street pretty unaesthetic, so maybe that is truly abject. also shit - and dogwalking has meant i have actually handled shit, even if it is through a plastic bag, which is pretty yukky. i think something involving stickiness and food and hair would probably be the ultimate stomach churner for me, visually

steelisreal: 4th Nov 2005 - 05:06 GMT

will you do me a favor and go take pictures of my old street and flat building???? please please i miss london and have nothing to remember where i lived. it is #6 st martins lane, you know near leicester square across from browns

my email is socialist@gmail.com

elaine: 4th Nov 2005 - 08:23 GMT

what! you want me to go all the way to the west end??

steelisreal: 4th Nov 2005 - 15:24 GMT

well where do you live?? I never really considered anything far in london. oh well i was just asking
sorry to bother you.

Peter: 4th Nov 2005 - 16:02 GMT

what are the differences between neighborhoods in the east/west ends?

elaine: 4th Nov 2005 - 16:05 GMT

not to worry steelisreal socialist, i will do it, just not right this very moment. it's not a massive bother, but i am not always terribly mobile. you are right, it's not very very far, but it isn't on my usual beat, and i am a dreadful localist. however, i am feeling a need for a muji shop quite soon, and for that i will have to go to tottenham court road. i will take my camera and your address. i miss your london photos, you should come back and do some more ;-)

elaine: 4th Nov 2005 - 16:24 GMT

hum. west end is where the theatres and big shops are and tourists go and the queen lives. not that many people live there, but it would be good to live there if you were young and wanted to go out all the time. there are loads of different localities and neighbourhoods with different flavours depending who lives there, what they eat, what different businesses might go on and the histories thereof. between the west end and the east end is the 'city' which is the old walled roman city, aka the square mile. this is the equivalent to wall st. the east end is as old as the city, and the nearest gate into the city was free to enter, hence there is a nigh on 2000 year old unbroken tradition of street markets and prostitution. (you may get the gist that this is a summary, and a partial perspective) it has traditionally been poor. it was bombed a lot in the war. the whole hoxton boom is very recent and so we have a truly trendy little pub/club/gallery/whatever centre going on now where before was very 'desolate' london. where i used to live, near tower bridge was so built up that there were only crows and pigeons to be seen. here, near viccy park i have my own flock of bluetits that feed on my windowsill every morning, there are magpies and starlings, sometimes ducks and things because of the canal and the park being so near. one time me and ian saw something we thought might be a parrot it was so unusual looking and bright, but it turned out to be a woodpecker (unless it was a parrot with serious behavioural problems)
will that do as a start?

Peter: 4th Nov 2005 - 16:26 GMT

thanks elaine! a personal/partial/summary is exactly what i was looking for :)

neighborhood vibes are interesting. we have proximal areas that sound just like those places here in nyc...

elaine: 4th Nov 2005 - 16:32 GMT

see also eye of the storm

Peter: 4th Nov 2005 - 16:34 GMT

ahh, i love that entry. thanks for the link- it prompted a reread :)

Catherine Penfold-Waxman: 4th Nov 2005 - 16:44 GMT

I also read the eye of the storm and I'm blown away. I've been enjoying getting to know you guys through your pictures, stories and comments. This is a wonderful, human site, where we all inspire each other.
Elaine, after burnout comes refuel. Then you'll fly higher than ever. And if I was still in London I'd come over with a cuppa and a curry.

elaine: 4th Nov 2005 - 16:48 GMT

fab! imagine someone turning up on your doorstep with curry and tea already made and on a tray? it's like a dream...
thanks, catherine, for your kind words, and you are right about the site, it has been my lifeblood over these past months

Peter: 4th Nov 2005 - 16:48 GMT

no, after burnout comes the good runner, heehehehe...

steelisreal: 4th Nov 2005 - 20:12 GMT

oh you live in hoxton. i went there once for a damien hirst exhibition. i lived in the west end cause i wanted to be near charing cross for the bookshops and it was close to my work. I loved the flats in the east end but they were so far away to everything I was into. I did live in kennington for 6 month and i must say lambeth is a strange place.

elaine: 5th Nov 2005 - 13:01 GMT

that damo show was good. very sort of church-y. i've got the poster from it up in my kitchen. i am a good 30 minute walk east of there - virtually suburban!

elaine: 8th Nov 2005 - 18:11 GMT

hey vz, i quoted you www.swinney.org/journals/article.phtml?id=3892
also currently hanging in the stephen lawrence gallery in greenwich

Samantha: 17th Dec 2005 - 16:03 GMT

What is muji? or am i being really stupid? Well I've only been in London for a few years so I don't talk the right language yet.

Samantha: 17th Dec 2005 - 16:17 GMT

...........probably grass. Which i used 2 smoke years ago and apparently may be partly responsible 4 my now being a mentalist (see comment on St. Clements)

elaine: 17th Dec 2005 - 18:08 GMT

ha, no nothing like that. it is a shop which sells very plain japanese no brand products, lots of lovely white polypropeline folders, stationery fethish stuff, bits and bobs, i love it

elaine: 17th Dec 2005 - 18:42 GMT

is it? i didn't know they were a shop there, it's quite the thing here, very few outlets

Peter: 17th Dec 2005 - 21:26 GMT

grass, ikea and mentalists. welcome to citynoise.

elaine: 17th Dec 2005 - 22:24 GMT

where the welcome mat is woven with grass, by mentalists who eat chips and are obsessed with bikes and cats and buildings and stuff, and sold at a crazy knockdown price in ikea

elaine: 23rd Dec 2005 - 16:17 GMT

steelisreal lived here...