BETAMAXNOMATES

'All she can do is dial and yell...'

20080710

ALL YOUR GRUBBY LITTLE DREAMS COME TRUE

This is a collection of photos of Japanese people asleep in public. It's something you see here quite a lot. Sleeping on buses and trains isn't so unusual - and something I do regularly (see also: cinemas, nightclubs, funerals etc.) but I'm always amused by the street sleepers. People, generally salarymen (and occasionally women), in their suits, just sprawled on the pavement. Bit like that Radiohead video. It's hard to imagine this kind of sleep being particularly restful or relaxing but it's sometimes surprising how comfortable some of the street sleepers look. All tuckered out, just curled up on the pavement in their office wear, their Louis Vuitton man-bag their pillow. It's touching really. Particularly when I touch them it is.
Here's a site that - well, the URL sums it up fairly well. A bit alarming initially if you're using a Mac but it's a very clever idea. Selection is a bit limited so far and does, for some reason, contain the godawful Vernon God Little. Really terrible book that - can't even remember if I finished it. I've been reading a lot of George Orwell recently and can conclude that he is 'rather good'. This one and this one are particularly illuminating reads.
Mike Sacks takes photos of TV. You can see them here. The caption 'Ice-T's Friend' is my favourite.
Peter Callesen is an artist who makes pieces out of regular A4 printer paper. They are amazing.
And Mark Jenkins is a guy who does what would I hesitate to call 'guerilla art', mainly because anyone that uses a term like 'guerialla art' out loud in actual conversation immediately forfeits their right to be taken seriously as a human being. However his 'street installations' are quite cool. A bit like Banksy only without the lazy sloganeering and 'subversive' posturing. This Charlie Brooker article sums up my thoughts on Banksy rather neatly. There's a sense of playfulness and a keen eye for the absurd that sets Jenkins's work apart, I think. Plus it ties in rather well with the thing about street sleepers at the start. Almost like I planned it. Which I didn't.

Satan!

posted by Fergal # 14:59

Comments:

Years ago I wanted to put realistic mannequins in hoodies in electric wheelchairs and have them move around randomly or be remote controlled maybe even put some AI, computer vison control system into them but I didn't.

# posted by

Unknown : 4:09 PM

BETAMAXNOMATES

20080710

ALL YOUR GRUBBY LITTLE DREAMS COME TRUE

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