5 in 5 (Day 2)
THEME: NOTICING
THIS DAY WAS BASED ON EXPLORING MY IMMEDIATE SURROUNDINGS AND NOTICING MORE CONSCIOUSLY. I DECIDED TO GO AROUND THE BLOCK 5 TIMES AND WRITE DOWN OBSERVATIONS EACH TIME. WHAT I HAVE ALREADY OBSERVED IN PREVIOUS ROUNDS CANNOT BE REPEATED, SO I HAVE TO MAKE NEW OBSERVATIONS EACH TIME.
THIS IS THE BLOCK I OBSERVED WHILE WALKING:

OBSERVATIONS:
ROUND 1:
parsons building, somewhat busy, students standing and talking on the side of the pedestrian walkway, sitting space, a little shop, trash bags, cafes, this street has less people, more shade, another parsons building, raquette club on the right, more cafes on the right , cafe on the corner, more sunny now, another fire hydrant, gets busy at the corner, trash can, bicycle pole thing, citi bikes, other bikes, pizza shop, trees planted in squares, spa, food carts, bank, less people on this corner, accessories cart, comic cart, people on the the, sidewalk sitting, sport stores and other stores on the right, van and trucks parked, light pole, trash bags, homeless guy, parking meter, tree, book stand, trash can, bus stop, tour bus parked, a guy on a motor scooti, bus sign, subway vents, pharmacy, lamp post, most people walking the same way, bench, trees, parking meter, dorm, people walking slowly in opposite direction, cars parked on the road, sunny on road
ROUND 2:
gutter, people in the shade talking, people sitting on the tree fences and talking, it’s not busy outside the parsons uc entrance, pay phone booth, (kiosk), parking signs, sprinkles on the side of building, more trees here (greener here), another parking sign, bike on the single stand, guy outside cafe sitting, art material shop, a lot of old manholes, a different kind of fire hydrant, alternates between brick walls and concrete, no one at the corner, road diversion on the opposite side, two old women talking under an umbrella, fire sign on wall, music coming from halal cart, people sitting on the floor outside bank wearing fluorescent coloured shirts, lamppost light on, some graffiti on the floor, cracks on the floor, lots of old lines and spots trash bags by the homeless guy, traffic is stopped, shoe store, few leaves on the ground, it’s hot, a lot of sun, the floor gets better as you approach 5th age from 14th street, busy on the corner of 14th and 15th, the pharmacy door opens automatically as you pass by even if you didn’t intend it, broken post thing.
ROUND 3:
square manhole on the floor that says GAS, another one with WSNY, a water glass on the floor, flowers planted by the place to sit on the corner, text on the glass windows of UC 13th street, cafe boards outside, people are walking at a leisurely pace, lots of taxis, different kinds of manholes, lots of spots on the floor some dark some faded, trees planted at regular intervals, shadier trees on two sides, smells like bread, different colours and sizes of fire hydrants, people walking at almost the same pace, no one looks happy, most have closed footwear, a bit of trash on the floor, another homeless guy, dog, no standing sign, the sidewalk is larger here, halal food cart, big traffic light pole with trash bags, bench is empty now, the pharmacy window has a big 24s on it, the busyness on the sidewalk depends on the traffic lights
ROUND 4:
people walking with a purpose but are not hurried, very few kids, mostly young adults and students, most people, have some sort of a bag, it’s humid, half the people are carrying some food or drink item, not too many bright colours, a lot of bnw coloured clothes, patches of sun have no people, girl sitting on the footsteps beside café, since i started but i only just registered her, first guy i’ve noticed talking on the phone, now i’m noticing a lot of, people on the phone, some water on the floor, the sky looks very light blue, patches of shade forming a blobby, pattern on the floor, food related trash on the floor, advertisements on the citibike stands, a post with an advertisement, now i’m noticing more advertisements, the walking speed slows down by the fruit carts, the halal, guy is playing azan, the floor is not even, goes up and down, shifts, most people walk close to the buildings, most people are looking ahead, half the people have earphones on, time on the bus stop, the yellow traffic light casings are the brightest thing when you look up ahead at the corner of 5th and 14, brighter colours at the corner
ROUND 5:
a glass of water has been knocked down, a pencil on the floor, dog, open neon sign on the kiosk, floor graffiti says ‘protect yo heart’, puddle on water in the road side, first cigarette but i’ve noticed, now i see them everywhere, noticing more graffiti now, and contrasting shadows in the sun, the blick art window had bright colours, people speaking different languages, mostly not speaking, and walking alone, or in pairs or threes, or talking on the phone on earphones, first guy i’ve seen smoking, old women by the fruit cart, the fluorescent clothes guys are gone, cars parked on the road side, no empty space, floor is different colours of grey, a few people in a cane (all the people i subconsciously saw before i remember now), bright colours are pretty noticeable except for places i’ve been to before, i don’t notice as much, automatic caution door sign on my dorm door i noticed for the first time
PATTERNS + INSIGHTS + CONCLUSION:
I usually am oblivious to my surroundings which is why this exercise was so enlightening. Initially I was noticing objects and big obvious things. In Round 2, I started noticing more details that can easily be overlooked the first time, mostly insignificant details like gutters etc. Moving to round 3, I started noticing peoples behaviour and extra details like ground texture and insignificant markings/grafitti on the floor that I have never noticed while living in Kerry Hall for the past month. Round 4 led to a lot of observations that were based on previous subconscious observations that I didn’t register but realised in this round after seeing it over and over. Finally, in round 5, I noticed the most basic and almost obvious things that I have never paid attention. And all these things were present in places I g by everyday, so they have become invisible by now. Its easier to notice things in places you’ve never been to before because there are no biases, and you do not overlook things easily.