The Surprising Originality of the Ordinary

The point here is that if you are not amazed by ‘ordinary things’, you do not understand them. The clips are shown in different aspect ratios, below. Sorry about that. Click on the resize button, bottom right, and the ratio will be rectified.

Note on Indonesian shadow puppets: wayang kulit (literally "shadow" + "skin/leather"), probably the most famous tradition, especially on Java and Bali. The puppets are intricately cut from buffalo hide, and performances often run all night, drawing on the Ramayana and Mahabharata.

Note on the right-hand clip: the music is Handel, Messiah (1741). The text comes from 1 Peter 1:24, itself quoting Isaiah 40:6. For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. Isiah: The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.

Orange Peel. Shows active inference in action. You can find a different way of thinking about this illustrated here‍. ‍Keep watching, there are two hand movements. They reveal how complex executing the simple task is. And by inference, how difficult such embodied intelligence is to mimic in digital/mechanical systems, A.K.A. robots. The link will take you to an analysis of the reach, grasp and raise sequence.

Manga. Central Line, London. Let me be no nearer to death's dream kingdom, behaving as the wind behaves over a carton.