interesting comparison i read this afternoon

Looking through the art book The Art of Looking Sideways edited by Alan Fletcher, I came across these pieces of writing in which he described the memories of places and events he’s been. This is an extremlly interesting book that is a collection and harvest of various artists, thinkers, scholars and writers ideas and art that take a different look at art and thinking. I highly suggest anyone and everyone to take a look at it. …. These two ones seemed appropriate.

QUOTED TEXT:
“Impressions figments memories of places. How often has one seen a gem, an oddity, a surprise, a piece of information, an idea, only for it to dissolve in the memory to be forgotten. A visual encounter lost forever. Here are just a few of those I’ve kept and noted down.

Sydney
Cantilevered shop canopies; red roofed suburbs; corrugated iron; rod iron balconies; shovel shaped pavement corners; ‘walking trouser’ pedestrian crossing signs; half and full flush loos; bottle shops; overhead trains; Strine; the pale cream and barrel sugar Opera House variously referred to as “an old Olivetti Lettera 44 after an office party” or “broken Pyrex casserole dish in a brown cardboard box”.

New York
Custard yellow cabs, scarlet fire hydrants, a cacophony of street signs clustered on intersection poles. The city authorities are against feet: NO STANDING, NO STANDING ANYTIME and incongruously for Manhattan, NO STANDING EXCEPT WHEN HORSE DRAWN. NO PARKING signs come with qualifications; 8am to 11am TUES THROUGH FRI, 7am-4pm SCHOOLDAYS. DON’T EVEN THINK OF PARKING needs no qualification. Here are some others: TOW AWAY ZONE, RED ZONE FINE $185. SNOW ROUTE (looks odd in July), TRUCK ROUTE, CLEAR FIRE LANE, BUS LANE – BUSSES ONLY. All with arrows up, down, left or right, or both ways. “