Forwarded: Today by Scott Thrift
Jonathan Harris’ project Today is built around the idea of clicking a single photo and posting it online every single day. The concept resonates with me and what I’m trying to achieve with this Substack.
The most interesting aspect of this project was Johnathan’s opinion of human memory and the dichotomy presented by the act of clicking photos - being mindful in the moment, and capturing the moment as well. I fundamentally believe that both are mutually exclusive. Especially given the range of electronic gadgets modernity offers, it is extremely difficult to do both at the same time and easier to mistake one for the other.
Another perspective of the project was to build an extremely personal memory practice and weaving stories around them. There is definitely something to be said about the act of consciously creating memories through such a daily routine. The year long journey felt a lot like an inquiry into artful ways of constructing our own memory methods (memory palaces et al).
As Jonathan himself said, the documentary itself might feel like someone is out hunting with an anticipated finale but it’s actually a relaxing, random walk through the forest. It might even be a metaphor for life - as we plan towards an end goal, perhaps focusing too much on the destination and missing the journey (infinitely many cliches around this thought).
I derived a lot of meta value about art and it’s relation to various aspects of our life from watching this documentary and learning about the project itself. Hope you find something in there as well!