Dispatches from Suburbia

If I played an instrument, I would have a band called "The Simon Thomsen Sex Tape"; and other musings, rants, and disconnected ramblings.

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Manipulation and Perception


Quote of the Day: "Well, it would've been, could've been worse than you would ever know./
Oh, the dashboard melted, but we still have the radio."
-Modest Mouse, "Dashboard"

I built a fountain in my backyard. I used this nice green pot from Mexico, and I placed it atop a bucket that I buried. I filled the bucket and the pot with water, and I rigged up a pump so that water overflows in the pot and trickles into the rocks below. It looks cool, and now I get that zen-like sound of trickling water.

What I find rather ironic, however, is that the fountain looks so fluid and serene, as if it was put there by the natural elements, and to get this natural look takes such manipulation.

I wrote this same idea in a Film Theory class. "
The 'natural' effect of film," I wrote, "requires such manipulation of both the images and the narrative. The camera is often compared to the human eye...yet we perceive time as an unstoppable, continuous force, whereas film pieces together images to create a sense of continuity. Film can stop and go at any moment."

Perception is totally peculiar.

3 Comments:

At 7:05 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Interesting observations, Simon. I've felt the same way about my wildflower garden--months of preparation and fussing followed by a few weeks of furiously ripping out nettles to create the look of a meadow that just sort of happened by itself.

 
At 7:19 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

It sounds comforting. I'd love a picture posted.

 
At 7:48 AM, Blogger Beth said...

We have a pond with flowing water in the backyard.
Re: the "zen-like sound of trickling water" - our neighbour's son informed us the sound (heard from his bedroom window) made him have to go to the bathroom.
So much for the manipulated sounds/look of nature.
(We still have the pond - he moved out.)

 

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