The Ordinary Anthology

Questions? Email [email protected]
Guided Submission Shared Google Drive

Background

These are uncertain times. We are in the midst of a world pandemic and this moment will undoubtedly be written about many times over in history books. Already, there are stories of heroism detailing the vital work of those in the hospitals and stories of tragedy from those who have lost close ones.

What we are interested in creating is a visual documentation of the everyday people that exist in between the extremes of these stories. How were the neighbors coping? What does the doctor eat during a break? What did kids do to pass the time? How does the grocery store bagger unwind after work?

What has "ordinary" become for people?

What is this?

The Ordinary Anthology is a compendium of mundane activity and day-to-day emotions of this time. You do not have to be an artist or a writer to contribute. You do not have to perform any impressive feats or have a sad story. You do not even have to be interesting. The Ordinary Anthology asks nothing of people other than to live their ordinary lives.

We hope to help give light to experiences that have gone unheard, but we want to capture this time period as realistic as it can be. This means your experience matters! Is the same as before? Is it more painful? Peaceful? Anxiety inducing? Boring?

Process

The making of the anthology has two phases:

PHASE 1:
collection

This is happening NOW! During the collection phase, as much content is collected from the general public as possible. (please submit something!)

Use the link above for a guided submission. (you can submit anonymously!) Alternatively, DM us on instagram @boose.studio directly with your content. You can also email us at [email protected] We want this to be as fun, easy, and low-effort as possible.

Share this project with your friends, so we can gather as much content as possible! Collection will end around May 25th.

Examples of things you could send: art, poems, voice clips, instagram stories, Animal Crossing outfits, Zoom backgrounds, bread recipes, moss, your Netflix list, trash, etc. literally anything. Words for context helps but is not necessary! :)

PHASE 2:
curation

Curation is the process of sorting through the collection gathered in Phase 1 followed by a series of collaborative making sessons. Curators will transform, re-order, collage, destroy, build, and create new art using the collection as components.

Anyone can be a curator. You do not have to submit in order to curate. You do not have to curate in order to submit.

The final anthology will be an aggregation of everyone's curations. The final format will be decided collectively.

Details on how and when curators will gather are still being determined. Please give us your contact information if you are interested!

Guidelines for Submissions

  • Any and all mediums are accepted, but we are currently only accepting digitally. (e.g. send a photo of a rock. do not send us the rock.)
  • You may send multiple submissions. We encourage it even if the submission's content doesn't change much each time. Set a reminder to dump a random photo, thought, or feeling on us every evening! :)
  • Submit media that is relevant to your life, but please do not submit or steal work from other creators (e.g. sending screenshot of a song you've had on repeat is cool. sending the artist's actual song/audio file without permission is less cool.)
  • The date of creation for the submission should not be more than four months old.
  • The submission does not have to (but may) directly relate to the virus or any ongoing current event.
  • By submitting you are allowing Boose Studio and other affiliated creatives to manipulate, remix, destroy, alter, and build upon your submission to curate the final anthology.
  • By submitting, you acknowledge that your submission may be transformed into a product that you may not receive compensation for. (any potential profits to be made from a product born out of this project will likely go towards COVID-19 relief)

Don't think too hard; this is your everyday life!

Who is making this?

This project is led by Boose.Studio and an artist named Jason Lin. They recently designed a book documenting their own ordinary life which was recognized as one of the 50 Best Designed Books in 2018. Sign up for their newsletter for updates on future projects like this here.

If you are interested in helping to organize the structure of this project or translate the form into other languages, please don't hesitate to reach out.