On the occasion of the exhibtion "I Like My Town, But I Can’t Say Exactly What I Like About It" in Pau, France 10.10.14–10.11.14.

"During a stay in Tokyo in 2006, I got fascinated by the creativity in the citizens ways of dealing with private and public space; how they affected their surroundings and claimed space, regardless of the actual lack of it. Many people do that by small but verdant gardens outside their houses. Trees and flowers are mainly planted in pots, also due to lack of actual ground and soil. This is not unique for Tokyo but typical, and it describes the importance of making a personal impact on your surroundings.

My contribution to the exhibition in Pau is part of an ongoing reserach of this phenomenon. It is a selection of photos from my archive that consists of observations from various places, focusing on bigger and smaller green interventions and personal oases in the city scape. Since I found the format 'poster' a bit inappropriate for displaying these ideas I chose to design it as a booklet and exhibit the sheet as a two-sided poster. So, the poster is a 16 page signature to be folded in to a booklet. Please do!"

The curators Medium describes the project:

"'I like my town, but I can’t say exactly what I like about it. I don’t think it’s the smell. I’m too accustomed to the monuments to want to look at them. I like certain lights, a few bridges, café terraces. I love passing through a place I haven’t seen for a long time.'
– Georges Perec, Species of Spaces and Other Pieces.

One reference point for the project is a quote by the french writer Georges Perec. His fascination with the apparently trivial details of everyday life – the infra-ordinary, offers an approach for experiencing our quotidian environments in new ways. Contrary to the spectacle of the tourist, familiarity of a place allows new understandings and readings, by focusing on detail rather than the whole. The celebration of the mundane and everyday is a principle that runs through all Medium projects.

For 'Open Your Eyes' 2010 Medium have invited a group of 9 young Swedish graphic designers to produce a series of posters responding to this priciple of observation. Medium's contribution will add an additional layer of references for how familiar places can be explored or re-discovered. We hope these posters will become tools for the resisdents of Pau to explore their town in new ways.

Participating designers include:
Adam Bergholm, Byggstudio, Jenny Enequist, Sara Kaaman, Johanna Lewengard, Medium, Museum Studio, Matilda Plöjel, Johan Thermænius, Jonas Williamsson." ( read less )