The theme of my final major project has been routines. I have looked at many different types of routines, ranging from human to cell to animal to mountain to planet. I have also researched how they benefit us and evolve. For example, the development of public transport, from its infancy to our daily reliance on tubes, trains, and buses for the commute. Throughout the project, I have been making visual experiments in a range of mediums to respond to my research and help me understand my subject more deeply. Research has led to my ideas and opinions developing and changing along the way. My opinions about routines and our reliance on them fluctuate from neutral to good to negative, and I still feel conflicted. Routines are very important as they provide a structure for our lives, and without them, people would find it hard to function effectively. However, people get too caught up in them and find it hard to imagine or think of any alternatives; it’s like living on autopilot. I believe it’s important to break your routine, to try new things and go to new places, which in turn widens people’s horizons, and to be open to the thought of possibilities. Through open-mindedness and a willingness to experience alternative ways of existing, we in turn become more open and less rigid in our mindset.
