Last week there were over 130 entries in the Mundane Challenge - obviously it wouldn't even be half as fun without this amazing support, so many thanks to everyone who has participated!
This mundane theme was started by a grizzly ghost, for those of us who may have lost inspiration. He suggested we take an ordinary, boring object and start shooting it. Turn the ordinary into the extraordinary!
This week I've settled on something so mundane it's impossible to go a day without using it: LANGUAGE. (To anyone who is familiar with me, you don't have to feign surprise.) It can be any sort of shot you like: high key, low key, DOF, blur, forced perspective, bokehlicious, or anything in between. Maybe there's a poster with cool calligraphy you've seen around town, maybe you have a coffee cup with a witty saying on the side, or maybe you want to take it to a more figurative place. How do you see language?
The only rule: there can be no question that the language is the star!
Tag your shots mundane-language and don't forget to share your entries on this thread! You have until Sunday the 10th to enter. On Monday I'll choose my top five for your voting pleasure, and the winner gets the honor of hosting Mundane Challenge #10.
i'm a little lost for words here----does this challenge's 'bout quotes,poems,lyrics,one-2-3 or more words, a sentence,--must be english and foreign languages ?-please,advice-----thanks and Super CONGRATS ----!!!
I really don't get this, I've never heard of language being classified as mundane. Also you suggest doing it abstract but there's an abstract mundane language challenge running at the same time.
@kjarn Sorry, Kathy - You're right about the other challenge going on - I'd forgot about it when I wrote this up, but now I'm been thinking about asking the abstract/conceptual advocates to hop over to Michelle's thread instead.
I suppose I consider language mundane because everyone has it - we see it, hear it, and use it every day of our lives; often we don't even think about it. Hope this helps.
For anyone who's not sure what to make of this, here's a shamelessly plagiarized definition of "language" that came from a Google search:
LANGUAGE: 1) a method of communicating ideas through words, gesture, or symbol;
2) the suggestion of human ideas or concepts by objects/actions/conditions associated with them, for example, "roses speak the language of love."
I'm thinking the second definition applies more to the Abstract Mundane challenge this week. Thoughts?
@kjarn Oh yes, I saw that def. too. I was thinking more along the lines of Merriam-Webster's:
of, relating to, or characteristic of the world; characterized by the practical, transitory, or commonplace; "the mundane concerns of day-to-day life"
@spirrowshoot fair enough that you choose that definition, makes sense but I still don't see how language is a mundane object! Here is what the challenge is about, you've even written it above.
This mundane theme was started by a grizzly ghost, for those of us who may have lost inspiration. He suggested we take an ordinary, boring object and start shooting it. Turn the ordinary into the extraordinary!
@spirrowshoot I think this will be any amount of fun. :-) Just to clarify, will visual abstraction be a disqualifier, as @jsw0109 suggests in the Abstract Mundane Challenge thread?
@kjarn Well, I for one am really glad you don't think language is a mundane thing! - sadly, many people do (maybe high school has made me biased?). With the definition set by Mr. Ghost I figured there would be a few people who haven't looked at "language" as something photogenic, or looked at the photogenic as language, in the same way they might not have looked at a shoe a toothbrush, a paperclip, etc and said "I'm going to photograph this today..." I know I certainly didn't until I started this project!
@spirrowshoot don't get me wrong, I think that language is far from mundane and I'm totally loving what people are coming up with in fact if this had been started as a language challenge I think it would probably be my favourite challenge ever but I still disagree that language is an ordinary boring object which is what the mundane challenge is about.
I went with the idea of what language is used to do -- create worlds (the book) and share them across generations (the storyteller doll). I thought the comments above were really interesting -- it got me thinking that language is a star because of what it allows us to do -- creatively and across time. This has been an interesting challenge!
Seeing the discussion about this theme and the back and forth on whether or not language is a mundane "object," I thought perhaps I could point out that some words are objects--direct objects in particular (intellect in this case). Leave it to the English teacher to get all nerdy on this one.
@kjarn Okay, well thank you so much, Kathy, for a thoughtful discussion - I hope we can agree to disagree? :) It's always nice to find another person who shares a love for language & what it can do.
@spirrowshoot I forgot to add that diagramming words is about the most mundane activity on earth--just ask my students as they roll their eyes and sigh. Thanks for the comment!
I think i may just give this a go over the remainder of the week and the weekend hopefully before Sunday evening. It is midnight on Sunday that it finishes isn't it @spirrowshoot
I photographed a handmade book, created with Japanese paper cut and hand lettered text. I tried to depict the idea that language is both the necessary part of daily life -- how story is told -- as well as an art form.
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Personally, I think you should write us a love ballad.
I suppose I consider language mundane because everyone has it - we see it, hear it, and use it every day of our lives; often we don't even think about it. Hope this helps.
LANGUAGE: 1) a method of communicating ideas through words, gesture, or symbol;
2) the suggestion of human ideas or concepts by objects/actions/conditions associated with them, for example, "roses speak the language of love."
I'm thinking the second definition applies more to the Abstract Mundane challenge this week. Thoughts?
@kjarn @mabelkitty @jodimuli @miley89
mundane [ˈmʌndeɪn mʌnˈdeɪn]
adj
1. everyday, ordinary, or banal
Adjective
Lacking interest or excitement; dull.
of, relating to, or characteristic of the world; characterized by the practical, transitory, or commonplace; "the mundane concerns of day-to-day life"
This mundane theme was started by a grizzly ghost, for those of us who may have lost inspiration. He suggested we take an ordinary, boring object and start shooting it. Turn the ordinary into the extraordinary!
I think mundane is the appropriate word here!
Seeing the discussion about this theme and the back and forth on whether or not language is a mundane "object," I thought perhaps I could point out that some words are objects--direct objects in particular (intellect in this case). Leave it to the English teacher to get all nerdy on this one.
This boring old weed seems to be speaking the language of love to me...is it to you?
I think i may just give this a go over the remainder of the week and the weekend hopefully before Sunday evening. It is midnight on Sunday that it finishes isn't it @spirrowshoot
can't get more mundane than a shopping list
Here is my image for this weeks mundane challenge !