THE ART OF DOING NOTHING
............................................ A book about how I made a book based on this book. ISHITA MEHRA
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THE ART OF DOING NOTHING
....................................... The very first expression that comes across people’s face when they hear the topic is that of surprise, then it get down to thought and soon they wonder. Perhaps people are taken aback at how shallow the topic is. Or perhaps. they know that there is nothing like, nothing, yet we have a term of it’s meaning dedicated in the dictionary. The art of doing nothing documents the variations the term takes and the perceptions people have about doing nothing. The idea of nothingness is subjective, not only in terms of what people do for a living, what their idea of living is, what field do they come from, how it has influenced their lifestyle and so on. It is chaotic yet clear. It is general yet subjective.
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THE ART OF DOING NOTHING
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Printed in New Delhi
THE ART OF DOING NOTHING Ishita Mehra
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EMPTY SET BOOKS
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INTRODUCTION / 008
INTRODUCTION Design that’s meant to be experienced in an instant is the easiest to recognize and has been around the longest. For over a hundred years, designers have arranged type, form, and image on many mediums. The art and practice of planning and projecting ideas and experiences is where content design steps in. The form of the communication can be physical or virtual, and may include images, words, or graphic forms. It can also be for any purpose, whether commercial, educational, cultural, or political. The design of books and magazines also has a long history. Whether physical or digital, these are objects that are meant to be enjoyed over time, during which the reader has control over the pace and sequence of the experience. In books, the content usually comes before the design. Good content design allows people to do or find out what they need to, to be able to formulate a product of any kind. By product, it isn’t constrained to the physical sense of an object, but an idea implemented in any form and medium. Content Design module started with a simple assignment, which was taken forward to another level. The first step was to choose three words, any three words. I chose- time, notebook and fear. All three words were brainstormed on individually and more words or strings of ideas were taken out from those sheets. The word “Notebook” led me to personal expression, which led me to expressions, which led me to various mediums of it and utter chaos in the mind. Confusion and expression gave me hints towards the exact oppisite- nothingness. The phrase the art of doing nothing was just a connection that was made out of memory and association. The ony time such a topic marked itself on a wikipedia page was when Mark Oven released his studies album in 2013. That is perhaps also the way I got to know about the ‘ phrase’ . The visual graphics or the album art of the album that caught my attention . Part photograph. Part illustration . But that is also not how I came upon this topic. The process was more confusing than portrayed.
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MARK OWEN, STUDIO ALBUM THE ART OF DOING NOTHING (2013)
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DESIGNERS SEEM TO FIND INSPIRATION FROM JUST ABOUT EVERYWHERE. WE GATHER IMPRESSIONS IN OUR CONSCIOUS AND SUBCONSCIOUS FROMM ALL WE PERCIEVE, SEE AND EXPERIENCE. WE FIND IT IN PLACES WE LIVE AND THE ONES WE DREAM ABOUT. SOURCES OF INFORMATION ARE JUST SEEDS LOOKING FOR THE RIGHT SOIL TO GERMINATE.
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PART 1 The nature of design constantly changes every time, with every project that you take. There are creative processes one follows to get to a solution, with each creative process being slightly different from each time, and with each individual. Sometimes the very first associations or ideas are chosen out of the brainstorming sheet, or sometimes mediums become the strong point of carrying the project forward. With the art of doing nothing, the idea of the very phrase was chosen to proceed with the assignment. The association that it makes is just a reference, but it’s elements become an attribute to the final outcome. Taking personal expression as my final word from brainstorming to go ahead with, many ideas were churned out.The first few ones wereto use the art of book-binding, or the beauty of writing diaries as my topic. Expressions led me to the physical attribute of it, which led me to sadness, dulnees and finally emptiness. Emptiness at first gave me the hint of nothingness, although the idea, then, had a different tone and style. Once the phrase ‘The Art Of Doing Nothing’ was finalized, Mark Owen’s studio album art was taken as an inspiration. Yet, the idea was vague. The very first hints were to choose illustrations as a medium and proceed. More ideas were thought and rejected.
A RECAP Back in 2014, I visited old delhi quite a lot of times during the winter’s with my sister. We saw many new streets and places and temples, and talked about how the place had been over-used or over-exploited by people as a mode of street photography. Undoubtedly, some of the best photographs have been taken there, but every other beginner in photography would use that place as a mark of their standard in photography. And ofcourse,everyone with a DSLR is an obliged photographer, like the camera comes with a certificate stating their position in the field. People with camera’s come and go, but the place stays the same. Filled with packed crowds, and a state of utter confusion and madness, a visual imagery of complete stillness came to my mind. What if the worlds of two very different places are combined? An area of utter confusion, with the state of rest and calm. In
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the middle of a jam-packed street in Chandnin Chawk, you have two people quitely sitting on the couch watching television and maybe sipping coffee or tea or soda. The mind finds humour in odd things. It appreciates disbalance sometimes, or something ‘off’ as one would say. Perhaps that’s how the connection was made, the idea of having an environment of utter confusion or crowd or order, and adding an element which is completely opposite to that.
THE ALREADY “DONE’S” A topic which is discussed only on the paths of “slowing down” or “taking an off” from our busy schedules, changing the direction for the art of doing nothing could be a bit of a nag. There were initial flight problems, as the topic couldn’t take off and spread it’s wings in different directions. Not many write about it with a sense of humour (unless it is a joke flashed on politicians for doing next to nothing for the country). An understated topic like this will have problems in being understood, considering how nothingness is too subjective as well. Simple living is dressed as ‘nothingness’ in this overly flashy world. Newspapers and magazines often inform us on how the long-working hurs and stressful jobs can cause us problems with our health in the longer run. We are constantly reminded to take some time out for ourselves. But that is a sphere of spiritual and mental awareness, that I would refrain from. Humour has it, that there is a lot of unity among people in nothingness.
DEFINING THE TERM The dictionary states nothingness as ‘no thing’, ‘no part’, ‘not anything’, ‘non-existant’. It is safe to say that nothingness is like my boyfriend. It does not exist. Keeping the definitions aside for a moment, we know for a fact that nothingness in it’s term in universal,what is subjctive is the medium or thought we have used on it. Any act that I define as nothingness, may not be to another person. For example bird-watching can an act of observation and passive thoughtfullness to someone, to another human being it could be a complete waste of time, or something like ‘nothing’. Bird-watching although by the definition itself is a verb and hence doesn’t fall into the category of nothingness, yet it’s attribute or value is how we define our actions as thoughtful, useful or nothing. We give value to ourselves, our time and our actions.
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WHEN WE LOOK AT OUR DAILY LIVES IN THE FORM OF SCHEDULES, WE WILL SEE PATTERNS OF EXPECTED TIMELINES. WHEN WE SEE OUR DAILY LIFE AS A DESIGN, WE SEE THE STRINGS OF CONNECTIONS- WHAT LEADS TO ONE THING AND ANOTHER. THE CAUSE AND EFFECT, THE GREY AREAS THAT WE MISS TO ACKNOWLEDGE, THE THING WE CALL NOTHING.
MOTIVATIONAL MESSAGE
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TO ALL THE NOTHINGNESS AROUND US People from age group 18 to 25 were interviewed to get some insights on their thought or perception of nothingness. This age group was chosen because their is a slight freedom from worldly problems during such an age. Although it is a phase which can define our life and the path we choose, but we still are exempt from many responsibilities, so that idea and that humour in nothingness is very much felt by people of this certain age group than from other age groups.
WHAT NOTHINGNESS MEANS TO ME People from age group 18 to 25 were interviewed to get some insights on their thought or perception of nothingness. This age group was chosen because there is a slight freedom from worldly problems during such an age. Although it is a phase which can define our life and the path we choose, but we still are exempt from many responsibilities, so that idea and that humour in nothingness is very much felt by people of this certain age group than from other age groups.
A LOOK AT HOW THE STREETS HAVE INSPIRED ME
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PART 2 AN ELEMENT OF SURPRISE The whole idea of having two differnt environments to collide, could be done through photo manipulation, or illustrations. But an element of humour needed to be added, be in tangible or essence based. Nothingness is often percieved as a lazy activity, or something more resting and laid back. The very first object that connects to it is a chair. The initial idea was to click a photograph of the twochosen surroundings and then merge them on Adobe Photoshop. But the idea would lack realism and the fun element in it, in my opinion. So I thought, why not just do it in real, by physically being present in the environment chosen. Since a chair would be a difficult object to carry in different places, a slightly easier object was thought of. Hence, a bean bag chosen to be put up in different places. This exercise allowed me to interact with the people as well in the surrounding, and I had the opportunity to see their reaction, and to share a moment of surprise and joy with them.
MEDIUM OF EXPRESSION Since the idea was too innapropriate or unlikeable by some, no model was availaible to be shot with the bean bag in different places. I tagged along my sister to help me get the pictures. Working along with her was another fun experience as we had the ease and understanding of how to cooperate and search for the right spots to place the bean bag. Because of the nature of the picture series, the photographs could only be taken improptu, as the streets would change constantly. Another aspect- the streets were chosen rather than uniform environments like schools, colleges or offices, because permissions in such places were rarely granted, and since I did not have the luxury of time, streets seemed like the best option to go ahead with. The streets were in fact, remarkably good for the picture series, it gave a good element of surprise. The places we covered were Haus Khas, Khan Market, Cannaught place, Delhi Riding Club and Shahpur Jat. The photo series were shot on a Canon 6D, 250 mm lens.
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{} A brief read up was done on the aspect of nothingness, just to get a heads up of the value of the topic I will be working
on. In mathematics, the empty set is the unique set having no elements; its size or cardinality (count of elements in a set) is
zero. Null set was once a common synonym for “empty set�,
but is now a technical term in measure theory. The empty set may also be called the void set.
THE ART OF DOING NOTHING
THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING LIKE NOTHINGNESS.
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THE BEAN BAG The first visual image of a bean bag that came to my mind was of a round edged black bean bag. Instead I ended up borrowing a black masculine sharp edged bean bag from my friend for the project. The bean bag was stuffed in the car bonut and off we would go to get pictures taken.
THE PICTURE SERIES Taking the very first initiative is hard, and scary. It is just a step away from starting a lae of new thoughts and possibilities. The first photograph from the picture series was clicked in Paschim Vihar, near Neo Convent School. The idea came in when I saw an old sofa being placed outside the school, while I was on my way home.
There is an invisible unity among people when it comes to doing nothing. THE ART OF DOING NOTHING
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SHAHPUR JAT Photography requires confidence,and shamlessness, especially in an environment where people stare like you just killed someone with your camera. Being our reluctant self, we carried the bean bag in the boot of the car, thinking, it’ll come in handy just in case we find the right spot. Shahpur Jat has always been our favourite pancakes spot. Our visit their gave us new places to shoot. A barber shop intrigued our attention because of the face mask one of thefellow customers had on their face, and the thought that it might just be a good humour element, made us askfor permission to place our bean bag in the shop. On our way back from the car once we had carried the bean bag, we found out a group of ladies preparing for a prayer meeting. And it seeemed like the perfect place to sit back and relax.
Do something you haven’t done before.
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SHAHPUR JAT
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DELHI RIDING CLUB
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KHAN MARKET
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CANNAUGHT PLACE
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Sometimes your peers are a lot more excited about an idea than you are. HAUS KHAS
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WHAT NEXT? After having a handful of photographs to work on, a coffee table picture book was thought of. Since the pictures gave viewers a nice read and trigger for ideas, it seemed like the perfect final product for the work done. More ideas were thought of as well. Finally it was changed to a small postcard book, since the nature of the content was more personalized, it would give a framed touch to the picture series. For the postcard series, 12 pictures were chosen, of size 4.25 inches by 6.375 inches. The postcards were bound in a 7.2 inch by 4.25 inch document. Each postcard had a different line to it and a postcard layout at the back. The postcards were perforated with the document, so that it is up to the viewers or thebuys to use the postcard or not.
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DOING THE OBVIOUS After a lot of talks and interviews, many people had a similar theory about having a book onnothingness. They would say ‘would the book contain anything’, ‘why don’t you make it empty?’. As a side line ‘dish’ to the product, an empty book was made, with the purpose of being used as a sketchbook.
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LOOK BEYOND Many other ideas were thought of to go ahead with this topic. The Art of Doing Nothing could be a commercial product if the picture series can be custom made and people could get their own copies of the postcards, or if there could be any celebrity endorsement. It could be an interesting AD Campaign for Kit-Kat, since Kit-Kat has alwyas stuck to their tagline ‘take a break’ .It could also be a satirical comment as an ad campaign for how politicians fail to make a change for their citizens, or how human beings fail to, or rather choose to not do anything to save their environment. The idea could spread in any direction, with variations in it’s tone and style.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT / 037
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS There are many people who helped me build this project become what it is now. First of all, I would like to thank my subject teachers, Lolita Datta and Manas Barua, who constantly supported and encouraged me, even in times of stress and utter confusion. To my sister, also one of the best photographers I know, who agreed on collaborating on this project and helped me implement the ideas. Without her, the project would not have found the space it is in now. To my best friend, whose bean bag is the star of the project. To my close firend Ishita Malik, who supported me throughout the process of the project. To my peers, who were more excited about this topic than me. To all the designers who contributed their works and their thoughts, which created such a friendly and happy project.
THE ART OF DOING NOTHING
THE ART OF DOING NOTHING
talks about the perceptions of people on the idea of nothingness. Being a
meta-physical and objective topic, the expression of the term changes and varies in many ways. This book is a personal journey of slight humour in the idea of nothingness that I find in my surrounding.
Do Nothing
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