.jpg "TEAM: Probot")
Restroom Photography by Haberley Mead
January 9th, 2008 10:37 AMThese are the men's toilets from inside State Fair at the Milton Keynes Xscape. Outside, it seems like a useful place to refresh one's self after a heavy bout of drinking and Dance Dance Revolution, and indeed it's useful for that very purpose - but then you look back at your experience and wonder, just what the hell were the designers thinking?
From the exterior, the doors match up nicely with the old-ship-stylee of State fair, and you would naturally assume that the design goes all the way through. But no! As soon as you walk through the door the entire world goes neon blue! And then after the ante-chamber the style changes again, to a more serene tiled look, standard in the mojority of toilets. I personally just wonder why they couldn't've kept with a single style...
The Exterior
Looks nice, doesn't it? (Note the mixing-up of 'Male' and 'Ladies', there's your first clue)
and inside!
Hold on, what's this? Wern't we on a pirate ship a moment ago?
...
A nice full-view mirror, just to make sure you haven't forgotten to wear trousers...
...
Nothing but the best for this place, obviously!
...
...And some sinks.
6 vote(s)
Terms
(none yet)12 comment(s)
I have to say that I think this is a really tough task, because it's hard to say something interesting about a public restroom. I mean, it's not hard to complete this task in a perfectly good way, but I think it's hard to come up with something really memorable. Possibly because one does not generally create public restrooms, one has to happen to be in one and notice something amazing. I wouldn't know how to do this one.
That large X on the floor near the stalls, does it mark the spot? It's as if they almost started with a pirate theme for the restroom, but then gave up.
It's true, this is a strange task to do.
Of the completions I've seen (including my own), this is one of the more interesting. Not only is the style difference between the exterior and interior interesting, but so is the look of the bathroom itself. I'm surprised that the comment-to-vote ratio isn't higher.
As for the task in general, I think the trick (which I did not follow in my own praxis) is to think back to a notable bathroom and go back there and shoot it. I might recommend the rest room in Greens Restaurant in Fort Mason, San Francisco. As I recall they have very interesting urinals. I know there are other places with themed bathrooms (Madonna Inn near San Louis Obispo?)... or you can just forget thinking about it and go to Muddy Waters.
Generally I don't vote for this task. I like tasks that demonstrate a creative personal effort - not just taking pictures of something that's already there, but going out and doing something daring, or making something beautiful.
You have to think big to get lots of votes. If the task says "Take a picture of a public restroom" that's pretty boring, but what if you got some old toilets from a tip and "installed" them in the middle of a park somewhere and then documented people's reactions? THAT would get votes.
Still, it's a very quirky restroom, so you can have a moral support vote from me.
P.S. Excellent documentation is also important.
Yeah, I agree with your points here, Charlie, this wa more because I was out down the city centre and I saw a particularly interesting/ ill-thought-out toilet that I thought could be a good choice for this task. Generally though, I'm still trying to get out there and do the more interesting tasks - I'm just currently working out how to do this one in a more interesting way.
Mints? In a toilet? Ive only seen these on railway stations.
Woah, everyone seems to be going for tasks that have been done awesomely already (epicly) like Door installation and Bus stop seating conversion.
Of course, somewhere (I think it's in the wiki), it says not to be put off, and keep looking for novel ways.
I look forward to your completion!
yeah but Fish you said you don't vote for things that happened before you joined, right? which from here is a totally random sort of moral code. not to mention bizarre for a once-and-future chrononaut. so, we know already, your voting judgment is clearly impaired by bizarre, arbitrarily arcane directives. What's the difference between "generally not voting for this task" and "grinding infants into forcemeat"? Morally I say none. I know the alley where Chuck feeds on the birds of night. It's in the book of revelation people!
That's a frikken clean public toilet.
Maybe;
We don't get them down here,
rare even
My god he's right mints - not even smints but real mints! That is the mark of a true upper level toilet.
Of course it's far off from a level 10 public convenience which are very rare. These contain the mythical tabooboo vending machine. I've only ever seen two.
Your toilet is pixellating, turn the dpi up...