IDEO
Everyday Ingenuity
Thoughtless Acts salutes basic innovation -- like using a suitcase as a chair -- and challenges industry to improve upon it
Jane Fulton Suri's observations have been collected in the new book Thoughtless Acts, a kind of photographic memoir of people adapting daily tasks to the world around them: hanging dry cleaning on a subway bar, tying a tea bag to a mug handle, or using a finger as a momentary bookmark.
Presented without captions, the photographs deliberately provoke varied interpretations. Why are the bananas on top of the TV set? Do they ripen faster? (Actually, they improve reception.) Why is the man standing against the wall? (He's on the phone, and it's quieter there.) Why are the mechanics' instructions taped to the ceiling? (He reads them when he's lying on the floor.)
Some images prove confounding in their ordinariness: What's so special about a white van? (Its driver has co-opted a roll of tape as a cup holder.) Who cares about a soda can? (The drinker dented it to distinguish it as belonging to him -- or perhaps in frustration.)
Others are clearly ingenious: a wine cork as a doorstop or a cactus as a pinup board. And many summon cozy recognition, like the woman testing hot water with a hand, the street musician playing in a tunnel, or the umbrella hooked over an arm. They all represent innovation that is basic but also incredibly useful.
Some anthropologists study ancient tools for clues to the culture they belonged to. Fulton Suri studies the culture for clues to better tools.