deconstructing living spaces
I sometimes do the following cognitive exercises while sitting by myself in a lively location:
- I look around to see how old each technology around me is. Of course I never know the precise dates of invention, but I can sort of tell the order. Speakers, chairs, salt, olive oil, heating radiators, light bulbs, concrete... Slowly the space unfolds in time until there is nothing but our naked bodies and the sky. This exercise will help you realise how much of what you take for granted required collective effort over hundreds of years to be discovered and perfected.
- I close my eyes and deconstruct the sonic landscape into its components. The environmental noise can be surprisingly rich. This exercise will help you realise how sensory data gets heavily filtered by your mind.