James Thompson

Blogging with bar graphs
Limited Edition Poster

A series of daily blog posts that explored the visual language of self–documentation. It was part of a larger project about the contrast between individual and group intentions on the internet and the rise of both the monologue and the conversation in the form of blogs and group applications respectively.

It was also an attempt to reduce my textual output into the blogosphere. The system for deciding the theme of the blog was such that I could decide at a whim in the same way that any blog author would.

Mapping time by experience: 1 earpiece = 4.5 minutes The day I found it more appropriate to describe my London Underground journeys by focussing on an aspect that I felt defined my experience during that time. I recorded the number of songs it took to get from one station to another.

24 hours of colour: A photograph taken every nine minutes
throughout my day
05.04.09

The day I noticed that I often take the colours of my surroundings for granted during the winter months as the daylight is often grey and muted. I visually documented the colours of my day by taking a photograph every nine minutes of what I considered to represent the average colour of my surroundings. I obtained an average colour for each photograph by rescaling it to 1 pixel in width.

The following list documents the reasons for the changes in the
colour of my surroundings on a sunday in April:

01. Battle with the snooze button.
02. Reply to email. Preparatory work for photoshoot. Procrastinate on Facebook.
03. Wait outside to be picked up with equipment. Text ex–girlfriend to arrange when I can pick up belongings.
04. Drive to Pitfield street. Receive angry text from ex–girlfriend.
Continue my conversation with the driver as if I had not.
05. Walk to red brick tenament blocks on Arnold Circus.
06. Reach location. Begin to set up.
07. Catch bus to ex–girlfriend’s house. She is not in.
08. Continue the shoot behind Columbia road flower market.
09. Lunch in cafe close to Arnold Circus.
10. Walk back to car on Pitfield street.
11. Catch bus back to Camberwell.
12. Work at the flat in natural light.
13. Realise it has suddenly become dark and turn on light. Wonder if many other people find themselves accidentally working all seven days of the week. Quickly realise that the
answer to this is yes. Continue working.