The Banal Art Of LGR Foods
The Simplest Things
We have a mixed relationship with banality. Some could admire a broken urinal in a grafitti stained public bathroom, or a mashed rotting bannanna presented as art. Some take pleasure in hundreds of trivial Instagram stories a say. The endless flow of tweets and news broadcasts, the never-ending media barrage.
Most of our time on the internet is spent trivially. Yet no one dares express their unending love of banality. It is everywhere, sawn into the very fabric of modern life, well hidden under thick layers that no one is digging deep enough to find. We’re well avare that it’s everywhere, but rarely do we call upon it. It’s just there, always and forever available, for a passive fling, a few moments to loose.
We might well justify these trivialities as newsworthy, plain strange or worth knowing. In most cases, they are distractions, taking us away from our home enclosure, job or lack thereof, or my dwindling half semester online education, distractions are welcomed. But not all banal internet content is created equal.
What I believe separates types of banality is the intent behind them. One type is the unexpected viral video where something unexpected gets caught on camera. It’s just something that happened, not something planned and created.
The other type of course, is banal for banality’s sake. It’s intently created, thought out and produced. Merits which I can understand and appreciate went into its creation. An example would be a well thought out review and rating of yesterday’s weather, a review of a gadget which can no longer perform its main function, a review of a video game which I can’t play on any modern system. Or a video of making and eating a sandwich.
Therefore I refer to LGR Foods. A side project of a niche retro tech reviewing youtouber. In it, we see Clint present a set of engriedints, which he quickly combines into a sandwich, which we then watch him take a bite of and explain just how much and why he likes it. He simply states in one of his videos that he tries out the sandwiches before every shoot. We’ll you might be thinking, this couldn’t possibly be it. Well you’d be right. He also does noodles, wraps and picks exquisite snacks to accompany his meal. Always a special type of chips and his ever favorite dill pickle.
The main Youtoube channel might be banal enough, but I think it fails to capture the essence of the word. One could argue that it has quite a lot of uses, contributing against its banality. It is a very reliable historical record, a handy how to guide for would be collectors and retro tech enthusiasts, as well as many more. But you could hardly say the same for LGR Foods.
Perhaps the most use you could get is to learn how to make a tasty sandwich. Well sure. It could very well build up your creativity and make you more experimental in your sandwich assembly. Personally, I barely eat sandwiches (barely handling carbs) and I live in Europe, far away enough to find none of the same ingridients for my tiny sandwich needs.
The most amazing part of this, is that hundreds of thousands of people watch this stuff. I have to agree with them, I absolutely love it. But am I actually getting anything out of these few minutes? I can’t help asking.
Why do we watch it?
The same reason I watch vlogs, read first person accounts and memoirs. A sense of community, empathy, actually having feelings for another person. Sharing an intimate part of the day with someone I know, if only superficially. I may see only what he wants me to see, but that doesn’t make the intimacy of the moment any less worthy. I feel it, as well thousands of viewers.
Besides, I’m seeking out any type of sharing and intimacy in this specific moment. Any piece of someone else’s life brings joy to mine. As I hope this article has to yours. ⚜️
