This blog will comprise a collection of ephemera, mess and miscellaneous artifacts reflecting on the writer's life.

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

mess

Why do things get in a muddle? Here is Gregory Bateson:
Well, people spend a lot of time tidying things, but they never seem to spend time muddling them. Things just seem to get in a muddle by themselves. And then people have to tidy them up again.

I spend my life surrounded by mess, as here:

I wrote an article about mess in this journal.
I was interested when I went into homes for my research that people spent so much energy tidying up for me. However, when I was myself the subject of research, I was very keen to tidy up, even though my interviewer didn't want me to.
Flickrites also find mess challenging, as here.
Mess is interesting. I think it is creative.
Jackie Marsh alerted me to this which is about loose talk.
Go and see.

3 comments:

Mary Plain said...

Another interesting post! Mess is very subjective, isn't it? I think I am quite messy but last weekend we had lunch with some friends (with two small daughters) and I have really never seen a house so messy. They moved in about 6 months ago but it looks like it was yesterday. It clearly works for them (and they were like it before they had kids, I had just forgotten) but would drive me mad.

A few years back a good friend of mine pointed out though that I do not really tidy up- I just make very tidy piles of things so that I have the illusion of having sorted them out. I was quite cross with him when he said it but have realised it is true. If our friends had piled things instead of spreading them over every available surface I would have been completely fooled.

Anya said...

I love the exchange between Gunther Kress and John Humphrys! Wonderful link Kate! I was predicting your "loose talk" link might take me to a report about the joys of "gossip", its nice to be surprised by the unexpected. Mess is kind of unexpected too, don't you think?

Kate said...

Yes, that's it, actually Bateson says that too.
I love mess.