Mass Observation: The Birds Sing Loudly but You Nearly Didn't Hear Them

 

 

Rain, Students and Cigarettes

 

One deserted student stands; her cigarette burns her yellow fingertips as the frosty air has made it impossible to raise the cancerous stick to her round pouty mouth. She shelters from the drizzle, on this bleak Friday morning, by dragging the hood on her cheap navy blue mac over her head covering her eyes as if to protect her vision from this placid scenery.

 A solemn man captures my attention as he carries a puzzled look on his caricature-like face. He heads towards the pond where his over-worn, green polo shirt camouflages with the unkempt shrubbery. He peers into the unsettled pond as if mesmerised by something and steps further into the wild greenery and disappears from sight; only to reappear again holding a sample of contaminated pond water.

 I approach a ‘No Smoking Area’, where five indefinable teenagers cluster and a cloud of poisonous smoke lingers in the damp air as they draw long, attitudinal drags of their cigarettes. The drizzle turns into a down pour and the group of casual smokers hunch their backs and huddle closer together to steel each other’s heat.

 As the rain floods the University’s floor, the students abandon their activities and go indoors. All I am surrounded by now are the cigarette butts left on the ground.

 

Lottie McKenzie

 

A Random Spill of Information

The rain dashes down in windy waves, It’s the stuff that soaks you through. Ripple after ripple cascade over the duck pond surface. I find cover as not to get too wet.

Walking to the Faculty of Health building a young girl runs past in a tight white top and pink hot pants, screaming into the wind like a Banshee.

Sitting down in the café at the lower level of the building, two young ladies are in deep conversation on how one of them must finish her boyfriend at home because of what she did last night. I now cast my gaze onto a man dressed in black carrying a flask he looks happy to be here!

A student nurse walks past with a slow swagger with heavy shoulders there is no visible chip, her head hangs low. Something is weighing her down, tiredness perhaps?

A lady walks past pushing a pram with a newly born baby crying. The crying gets louder and louder until she nurses him. She looks stressed like she is being judged I feel a connection with her.

A group of girls are now in the café queue each of them order a different variation of coffee and walk past all giddy about last night’s antics.

On hearing a clunk! Clunk! Clunk! I look up to see a rather rounded lady with typical ‘Teacher’ attire. She hurries along with a slight limp and her black curly hair bouncing as she walks. She has a big warm welcoming smile on her face, she reminds me of my Aunty Carole.

I go back upstairs and see the rain still dripping on the windows. A girl hurries past in a pink flowing top trying to open a bottle of coke, it spills out all over her.

A golf buggy pulls up and out gets a man who is soaking wet his mood written all over his face, he walks towards the doors with a long steady stride.

A pair of jeans walk past me I look up and a girl has a big smile on her face, like you do when you are reliving a fond memory. She then trips over, blushes and laughs at herself.

Is a Parka jacket custom student uniform?

I overhear a conversation above me between a man and women. There is a lot of laughing going on, almost in a flirtatious way, should I be listening?

I sit quietly until I hear bustle of noise getting louder I turn to see a lecture ending and students coming out in abundance. I hear one student say ‘80% 80% I can’t remember anything she has just said’.

Emma Blemings

 

Observational Mass

Leaves bounced gently upon their branches and birds happily took advantage of the momentary silence, beating their wings swiftly causing their bodies to sway up and down in forward flight. Fallen leaves as common as puddles after the autumn rain were carried off by the breeze; off on an adventure. Sudden rain and ominous grey clouds cause many to seek refuge and run…

The squeaky sounds of wet trainers against shiny polished floors grates upon the ears of many, however the price of safety is high, therefore they must bear the agony. Those without hoods also need not shower today and I find semi-wet ringlet-ing hair to be a strange look, if any. Runoff water from roofs cause heavy droplets to sluggishly attack the leaves of a nearby bush; many ignorant to its plight.

Lauren Suddes

 

 

Coming from the Library

A woman stands and walks away from the wall she was sitting on, her head held low, eyes trained on the ground, unkempt hair wafting in the wind. Deep in her thoughts, she scarcely notices the fall of the ash from her cigarette, held tightly between her fingers.

There’s a flurry of chatter from a group of birds as they fly overhead, casting their shadow across the woman’s face, then down her body and across the ground, in one fluid motion.

The wind shakes the leaves from their branches, their curling brown edges crisping as they fall and reach the ground.

A group of five trudge along the path, crunching the leaves under their feet as they step. Busy in their conversation, a neon sign catches their attention: Poster and Art Sale – Today Only. They makes plan to call there later today and carry on walking.

The rumble of an aeroplane’s engine echoes throughout the peaceful campus, as the sun decides to hide behind the clouds, casting a grey sleeve over the bright, autumn day.

Charlotte Simpson

 

 

THE LONG FRIDAY

 

The long Friday draws to a close as the benches empty and people rush to return to their halls. The trees whirl as the autumn wind begins to pick up, only making the students, plus one creative writing tutor holding a briefcase, more eager to reach their destination.

 

The surrounding buildings create a jungle of brick and glass, making the foreign surroundings almost familiar somehow. The library, the business building, the Hub. New names for places that already come across before our arrival.

 

Two girls walk past holding a basket of dirty clothes heading towards the Student union bar, talking about their inability to clean without the help of their mums. The next hour will certainly come as a shock to them.

 

More people start to fill the path; a group of boys pass my new sitting place, crossing either side, creating a sandwich of strangers, completely ignoring each other. Almost ignoring each other.

 

Just in front of the library a boy stands leaning over a bin while writing down unknown words in a notebook before picking up his phone and calling someone. The trees leaning in to listen, I walk closer to note the colour of the book. It was white.

 

 

Bethany Phillips

 

 

Mass Observation

 

First notes

A boy in blue jeans and green hoodie leans against a silvery grey pillar with a phone to his ear. He looks around seekingly and holds a cup of coffee in one hand and a small white plastic bag in the other.

A girl in a dark green coat carries a bright yellow bag on her shoulder while texting away on her phone.

A man with a beard outlining his mouth smokes his cigarette while looking around absently.

A man in a grey track suit with a cigarette in his hand is pressing away violently at keys on his phone, a look of anger in his eye.

 

My editing and creativity

I look to my left and there I see a girl sat next to me in the same position I am sat. She looks at me as I look at her. She also looks where ever I look.

I turn to look forwards and there I see a man in a bright blue track suit, leaning against a pillar while smoking a cigarette and looking around absently; acting as though he cannot see me even as he looks directly at me. The girl beside me looks and sees him too. I can see that she sees him through the corner of my eye. She spots me looking at her through the corner of her eye. Looking forwards, I also see a boy in a bright green hoodie walking towards me while he’s on his phone. I spy a girl with a bright yellow bag on her shoulder whom is talking on the phone while heading towards me behind the green hooded boy.

I turn to look to my right and there I see the man in the blue track suit still smoking his cigarette, though he is not facing me front on as I saw him when I looked forwards. He is turned to the side, yet still looks around absently. Now I can see that the stripes in his track suit are grey and the pillar he is leaning against is silver. I wait and watch.

I see the boy in the bright green hoodie walking along with his phone in hand like I saw him before, now heading towards me at a different angle and in a different direction. As he vanishes behind the silver pillar the man with the blue track suit is leaning against, he appears moments later and I realise he had pastel blue jeans on and that his skin is very pale white. I notice more colour from him as he passes the pillar that stands beside the glass building I lean against. Now instead of walking towards me, the boy in the bright green hoodie and pastel blue leggings walks away from me, besides the building opposite me from which I saw him coming.

Seeing the girl with the bright yellow hand bag getting closer towards me from front on as I look forwards, I turn my head back to the right to watch the girl pass the silver pillar; seeing if she will now be walking away from me too. She passes the pillar, only twists to her left to turn and enter the door that is to my left too. As she walks towards me to pass me and get to the door, I notice there are two other girls to her left and right who copies her every steps and movements until she enters the building. These other copies of the girl do look just like her, only they lack in colour to which the girl in the middle has. Where the girl in the middle could be seen wearing a dark green coat, the other two had their coats tinted a dark shade.

As the girl enters the building, I am left facing the copy of myself. I notice that my copy too appears besides me to my left, one in front of me, though far away, and right one copy of me right behind me as I turn around to lock eyes with myself in the glass building window I lean against. Turning back to my right, there is no copy of myself. Only nature that seems unique and all different with no copies shadowing in glass that I can see. Though my sign does fall to two far away trees that are side by side and each have V-shaped trunks.

Marie Parkin

 

 TWILIGHT MOMENTS

There is a small child playing in reception while her mother chats to a friend.  When I glance back at her ten minutes later she is swinging herself round a supporting pillar and her mother isn’t watching her at all. I watch as she loses her grip and she falls to the ground. Her mother rushes over to her instantly and makes sure that she’s okay.

All around me things are happening, there are people messing about on the running track, people arguing, people holding hands while they run past trying to escape the cold. I notice a man go into the Sporting Edge building and he reappears a few moments later with an instructor and I can’t help but smile as the automatic doors get stuck half way open.

I notice a group of girls walking past me, all in sync with each other, just walking in a perfectly formed clump. Just behind them are another group, but this time I notice the Goosebumps on their arms and how they were shivering slightly.  It is almost pitch black around me and absolutely freezing so it makes sense when people start rushing past me, moving a lot faster than they were before. Everyone hurries past, barely noticing me…busy with their own lives.

Jackie Goldston

 

Friday – 26^th September 2014 – “Cold”

 The morning is cold. Light wind moves through the open campus. An assortment of people exit their respective buildings, bleary-eyed and dishevelled. Many pull up their hoods against the light rain fall. One man pulls the zip of his jacket to his chin and places his hands firmly into his pockets.  The halls are cool and empty. The rustle of curtains the only sign of the occupants inside.

 A pair of boxer shorts lay discarded in a pitch of grass in the courtyard, coated in fine early morning dew. They remain unnoticed as more and more people shuffle out of their buildings, each following different tangents, heading to meetings or lectures. They share the same expression of ill-ease and fatigue. The boxer shorts move lightly as the wind picks up briefly. The courtyard is empty again.

 A large building stands dormant at the face of the campus. The red bricks dampened by light rain. An expanse of grass trims the exterior. The entry way holds a succession of once neatly cropped bushes, the contours of each differing minutely from its neighbours. The building is framed by grey sky. The cloud bank stands firm, the tone shifts sporadically into hues of lighter and darker grey.

 A revolving door remains in motion. A steady procession of coat clad people walk with purpose towards the building. One man struggles to close an umbrella, moving towards the door with a sluggish gait. Bird calls are sung randomly and faintly through the movement of the wind. Thin rain is audible against the light rustling of large trees.

 A woman folds her arms close to her chest, she walks at speed, the footsteps echo loudly on the wet pavement. Her face is stern, bracing against the cold. After a few moments the procession stops. The courtyard is empty. The birds sing louder.

 

Tommy Stone