unclutter | (no subject)

Clutter has such a profound impact on my/our lives - from the visual clutter that comes from all the surfaces being piled; which has been linked with anxiety/depression; to personal finances (remember that cheque I found, or when we buy duplicates because we can't find the one we already own, or when we pay for storage spaces) - clutter affects us; and for me at least, I want to live in a less cluttered house because I want a better life.

But our clutter has a deeper impact; a global one. My jaunt to get rid of my "free" e-waste reminded me of the likely home of my old computers. I first watched Ed Burtynsky's film Manufactured Landscapes on an airplane - flying to Winnipeg, probably. And from the astonish opening shot (no, really - mind-blowing) - the film transformed my understanding of the global systems of manufacture. The doc focuses on China; on how the very landscapes are transformed by processes of manufacturing - from extraction of resources to power generation; assembly lines to the fate of huge ocean freighters used in transport.

Burtynsky is a large format photographer, and the film capture quite a bit of his way of seeing as they follow him from site to site.

So - not a film about clutter per se; but certainly our consumption and subsequent difficulties about letting go are all part of the same systems that are manufacturing landscapes around the world.

I found a copy online - (subtitled in Greek!) - or it's available (at least in Canada) on Netflix.

(I think DW is having some video embed problems, but there is a link)