All things ROUTINE

Post notes, brain-storming, questions, comments on all things //routine//—

posted by Tony Brock on January 21, 2006 | comments: 11 | post a comment

+ when i wake up I eat either a bowl of cereal or a banana or both, then watch sportscenter for at least 30 min. i like frosted flakes best with the banana.

+ I put my left sock and shoe on first always.

+ I start brushing the left side of the mouth first always. then move to the front, then the right side. my right your left. i do this before i get dressed. well i get out of the shower and put my boxers on. i dont like brushing naked.


these things feel right because one day i started doing them and so i keep doing them. if i dont perform them the (correct) way, it feels awkward.
– _ – we make the right side of the bed and we get up on that side.
we are humans and we need consistency. spontaneity is nice and sounds good, (sp?-maybe not), but for the most part even the most spontaneous of us need consistency. we live there and it's home.

but when we break from it i think we are the most alive, as cheesy as that may sound, but you all know what i'm talking about. getting out of the comfort zone and doing something even the person who knows you best wouldn't ever dream of you doing. it could start with buying captain crunch instead of frosted flakes.



Posted by Alex Ford on January 24, 2006 05:02 PM

this may could find a better home in the CAM thread, but this one is weak so we'll use it to build this thing up.

William Wordsworth - 1770-1850
Romantic poet born on the northern fringe of the English Lake District in West Cumberland, England. Early advocate of the French Revolution, which was taking place during his period of writing, though he became upset with many writers focusing only on the revolution. He strived to focus on the everyday as well.

Why he is relevant to routine:
Wrote a preface to his Lyrical Ballads, written in 1802, which explains his reason for being a poet and why poetry in general is useful and needed. I think his writing about poetry applies to art as well.

"The prinicipal object, then, which I proposed to myself in these poems was to choose incidents and situations from common life, and to relate or describe them, throughout, as far was was possible, in a selection of language really used by men; and, at the same time, to throw over them a certain colouring of imagination, whereby ordinary things should be presented to the mind in an unusual way; and further, and above all, to make these incidents and situations interesting by tracing in them, truly though not ostentatiously, the primary laws of our nature: chiefly, as far as regards the manner in which we associate ideas in a state of excitement."

basically, to take the everyday and highlight/bring out the excitement that is internal in a certain situation that we may not see otherwise. I see this as our job as designers, but also what these contemporary artists are trying to bring out as well - or at least show something in a different light in order to raise questions and comments. To notice something in a different way to simply allow us to become better observers and appreciate the world around us.



Posted by Alex Ford on January 24, 2006 05:24 PM

Here is another metaphor: the labirynth and the maze (thought triggered by conversation with Marvin Malecha)

We once talked about the idea of routine, for example working out same time, same workout, etc - just like Alex was talking about with his daily routine in the morning.

He was talking about routine being a good thing like the labirynth-which are different from mazes. Labyrinths are unicursal. They have one well-defined path that leads us into the center and back out again. There are no tricks to it, no dead ends or cul-de-sacs, no intersecting paths.

A labyrinth is a right brain task. It involves intuition, creativity, and imagery.

When there is no routine it is like a maze, many choices must be made and an active mind is needed to solve the problem of finding the center. With a labyrinth there is only one choice to be made. The choice is to enter or not. A more passive, receptive mindset is needed. At its most basic level, the labyrinth is a metaphor for the journey to the center of your deepest self and back out into the world with a broadened understanding of who you are. The routine allows for you to reach a higher thought because you are not so so concerned with the tricks and decisions having to be made in a maze.

Each time you walk the labyrinth may be for a different reason. You may be seeking:
connection to your higher self
balance
centering
opening awareness
balancing your chakras
experiencing the energies
Once you reach the center of the labyrinth you can:
relax
meditate
seek answers to questions

This idea of routine and the labyrinth can bring several other outcomes and interpretations. The maze constantly makes you think about frustration and the end. The labyrinth allows for you to go in and out. Is there an end? Its a continuous sense of growth and awareness.



Posted by sarah on January 24, 2006 06:56 PM

it's interesting when you break down your everyday routine movements like tying your shoe or brushing your teeth into simplified, basic steps

tying your shoe
- look down
- kneel down
- move hands toward foot
- move hands in rhythm around foot
- stand up

brushing your teeth
-reach for toothbrush
-reach for toothpaste and open
-squeeze content onto toothbrush
-look in mirror and open mouth
-raise toothbrush to mouth
-use back and forth movement with toothbrush inside mouth
-remove toothbrush
-lower head, look down, and spit

Trisha Brown is a choreographer who takes these basic movements and uses them to create a dance performance. The movements are often improvisational, and combine different routine movements.

if you go back to the original steps and combine them, it creates interesting movements that would look strange to us though being only once removed.
-look down
-look in mirror
-reach for toothpaste
-open mouth
-kneel down
-reach for toothbrush
-move hands around foot
-look down and spit
-stand up
-open mouth
-look down
-etc etc

think of these as dance steps, and the ordinary everyday becomes quite strange yet beautiful. makes you think somewhat differently about each step and hand gesture that you make.



Posted by Alex Ford on January 25, 2006 11:55 AM

i have a routine of checking this blog in the morning and evening.......................
internet/media is such a part of contemporary routine, it's crazy.

who feels anxious about missing email over a week away? :)

// also [sub]routine an important construct of object oriented programming.. intersesting how each piece of our morning routine can be broken down to the idea of subroutine.. does maya use this idea?



Posted by lauren broeils on January 25, 2006 08:20 PM

"The military aspects to my recent work is more in reference to the idea that conflict is becoming a backdrop to our lives. It seems like the wars our country is fighting are just becoming part of day-to-day existence."
-Kevin Christy, Tokion magazine Nov/Dec 2005

he goes on to say that even happiness has become a routine



Posted by Travis Stearns on January 28, 2006 02:59 PM

what about the absence of routine?
what about the possibilities of awareness—knowing one's routine and deliberately breaking free?
what about sartre who talks about hell being with us at all times. we're locked in. is routine really a metaphor for being locked in?
can we survive unleashed?



Posted by carolin harris on January 28, 2006 11:28 PM

thoughts.. .

so a routine could be an daily/weekly/etc. event that one (one being either living throug heart pumping or through electicity.. . ie. machines) does.

_________or___ _

couldn't it also me a routine that is a response. Like always responding to a certain occurance the same way. Maybe that isn't routine but habit.. .

>an example of this with me is my obsession of sorts with odd numbers. I group in odds. I will either get 1 ketchup or 3 ketchups for my fries.. . definitely not 2 or 4. I will wear 1, 3, 5 bracelets but not those even numbers between them.. . and I won't knowingly put a hair-tie on my wrist if that means having 2, 4, 6 things there. That goes with anything.. . numbers make me think crazy at times i guess. and if there is no way for me to have odd a find a way to justify an oddness about them. Habit or Routine? or is it an "and" not "or"?



Posted by britt hayes on January 31, 2006 02:49 AM

What is routine ?

Forgive me if my thoughts are too broad or vague, but we often and automaticaly assume that routine is implicity connected with daily tasks, chores, or happenings. Of course it is easier to think of these associations. But what happens when our frame of reference changes?

the first two definitions of routine at dictionary.com are:
rou·tine n.
-A prescribed, detailed course of action to be followed regularly; a standard procedure.
-A set of customary and often mechanically performed procedures or activities.

So what is regularly? Can regularly include:
every other day?
-I have psychology every other day.
every week?
-Every weekend I go to church.
every month?
-I format my computer monthly.
season?
-I spend every summer in Canada,
year?
- My Cat's birthday is Jan 1.
decades?
centuries?

What does routine look like for:
a group, a generation, a society, a community, a system (geographical, biological, celestial, political, economic), a class, a species?



Posted by André Thompson on February 2, 2006 10:21 AM

In my mind, routine takes on several different forms. As humans, we react to each kind of routine in a different way. Biological routines (eating, sleeping, excreting, breathing, etc.) are necessary for survival, but barely acknowledged. Societal routines (how we speak to each other, act towards strangers and friends, dress, etc.) are on some level meaningless, but glorified. For lack of a better word, lifestyle routines (work for a week, weekend off, house in the suburbs, raise the kids, etc.) are scorned.
We hear about those people who are really LIVING their lives, being adventurous, pushing the boundaries, breaking the mold (routine?).
So it seems life itself is sustained by routine, but really LIVING life is hindered by it.



Posted by Marie Fornaro on February 3, 2006 01:10 PM

many of you have mentioned routine actions or physical behaviors... things that we can all see and imagine ourselves doing.

what about routine thought patterns, processes, etc?


inner monologue
analysis
self-analysis
idea generation
learning patterns
etc.

just thought i'd add.



Posted by mia on April 4, 2006 08:48 PM