The Intimacy of Everyday Objects

[@JacobGeller]

I'll be doing a full director's commentary on this video, with details on the production and more ideas that didn't fit into the script! Check it out and ask questions at www.patreon.com/JacobGeller

[@atlaswinter8134]

Hey please check out the game "If Found". It's an app with a really unique way of storytelling, that's all I'll say

[@calvinjessen6960]

do you know carlos maza?

[@imnotlyingimalion]

good job Jacop you made my fiance cry

[@willhart2188]

Looking forward to it!

[@chubchubpotatoes4983]

Congrats on 300,000 subs man

[@chesthoIe]

Getting good at juggling in real life means limitless inventory space in games now.

[@MuscarV2]

People that went to clown school: I knew this would be useful some day!! Take that mom and dad! Wouldn't be able to do this if I became a doctor like you wished, now would I?

[@Jacob-yg7lz]

Funnily enough, it's almost literally impossible to juggle in halflife alyx, even if you know it. A lot of juggling comes from the feedback of feeling objects in your hands, and how their weight feels as you move them.

[@Ghesh_Vargiet]

stack creates

[@thebigdawgj]

@@DarkAndromeda31 Never heard of that guy. Link me?

[@littlekitsune1]

Dang, finally an excuse to get a new life skill!

[@misscurls101]

I have never seen something so human in a video game as you trying to use the key card wrong 3 times before you figure it out.

[@haemmer]

You said it.

[@Oddie99000]

Amogus

[@seinyaaa4504]

Amogus

[@Electric0eye]

Amogus

[@vizthex]

for real.

[@glass.hammer]

Hot take: “I Spy” photography is some of the best still life children were accidentally inundated with.

[@JacobGeller]

YES

[@colecameron5617]

I now respect the i spy books way more because of this, they're little art galleries

[@yonatanbeer3475]

Walter Wick, the I Spy photographer, is actually an incredible artist.

[@seinorlemon]

One of my favorite all time photos is the I spy page thats the dark wooden highway, with all the little wooden toy cars rolling along and warm lighting. It feels so odd, so bizzare, but so welcoming and intriguing, it draws you in

[@GreenGorgeousness]

He respected children and wanted to give them the best experience possible.

[@dr.ravioli6654]

I think one of the reasons I enjoy Jacob's videos so much is how personal his stories are. I rememeber writing essays in school and being distinctly told to omit personal bias, to not add your opinion. But Jacob does just that. Not only does he analyze half life or analysis florence, he talks about how the game made him feel. I just really appreciate that.

[@SleepyMatt-zzz]

At times I think it's a bit of a double sword, on the one hand I do agree that inserting his bias makes some of his videos interesting, his observations are pretty spot on in this video, but I also find myself cringing at times because he makes the topics sound way more sensational than they warrant. I kind of get that feeling with Super-eye-patch-wolf too.

[@AidenRKrone]

Teachers/Professors don't mind personal bias as long as you have the "right" opinion. Have a contrarian, unpopular, or dissident opinion? You're SOL.

[@OSCARMlLDE]

I'm going to tell you something about writing that you need to hear. Every piece, every work by human hands is biased. It shows up in your tone and word choice and style. However, there is a difference between conveying your biases through your work and writing a biased work. Your teachers tell you what they do because you're only learning to share your thoughts in this more professional format. It a lesson a lot of kids, myself included, struggle to learn, but I promise my work is the better for it.

[@OSCARMlLDE]

@@AidenRKrone if your teacher tells you what to think, they're a bad teacher, but keep in mind that not all criticism is an attack on content

[@agreeableWitch]

I had a wonderful philosophy professor who told us that people often think emotion must be ignored in order to be rational, but not only is that impossible, it would remove key parts of reality. Emotions are real, and part of being human. Without accounting for them, you miss things and come to incorrect conclusions that might not even be what you actually think. Personal thoughts and feelings are an important part of analyzing the thing that caused them.

[@myujmes]

in art classes, something I found interesting about the creation of still life's is that oftentimes the fruit is plastic. this is so that the food doesn't spoil in the process of the students painting it, but I found it interesting how the impulse is to make the fruit look fresh. all the students would see the dull plastic apple, understand it as an apple, and added or subtracted detail to make a plastic apple look like a real one. it wasn't until I saw a painting that captured the seams of the plastic, the lusterless, the smooth, and the dents of the plastic apple that I truly appreciated a plastic apple as a plastic apple, instead of imagining it were a fresh one.

[@itsalladream5559]

Could you tell us its title and artist? I'd love to see that painting

[@myujmes]

@@itsalladream5559 it was just a student, I doubt there's a picture of it

[@SleepyMatt-zzz]

I used fresh fruit when I did still lifes at University. It was interesting how I ended up incorporating the decay into the paintings in just a couple nightrs. I started biting into the fruit to make them change faster. Sometimes they're have mold on them....

[@pauln07]

My art teacher would play this little trick on us where we would paint the same pairs in the same bowl in the same position every week. Between each week you would come to appreciate the extremely subtle differences. Then suddenly u would realise the bowl of fresh pairs u have been painting for weeks is now rotten and smells like shit.

[@alexsell9219]

I recently went to a Halloween party at a bar in Paris (where it isn't much celebrated and decorations aren't really available) and saw a plastic golden apple on the bar. I unthinkingly picked it up and discovered that it was in fact a real in apple seemlessly spray painted gold. The feeling of dissonance was oddly jarring, thinking that this "fake" apple (made to look like a real apple) was in fact a real apple, made to look like a fake apple. It's strange how much our beliefs effect our perception.

[@measlyfurball37]

The hot take of "videogames are an evolution of still life" caught me completely unprepared, but now I see that you're right!

[@nicole-vs-everything]

you release a video titled "the intimacy of everyday objects", and here i am, clutching a balloon that has remained pretty much intact since my birthday 3 months ago and dreading the day it finally deflates

[@EggBastion]

fill it with concrete and spray it with laquer

[@deathblite9806]

@@EggBastion how... Does that work? Wouldn't the balloon break eventually anyways?

[@GrayYeonWannabe]

oops i used to collect balloons from my bday parties. at one point i had like 7 miserable deflated things. finally threw them away when i got into high school. at the time it felt like a gut punch.

[@homebrandcereal]

I had a balloon stuck to my ceiling for three years.

[@softpiglet]

I have a Disney Tsum Tsum Piglet plush that I bought in 2015 during a date with a girl who later broke my heart in ten different ways. Pigs are my favorite animal, and I have slept with that plushy in my bed every night since. Over time, he has grown grey and faded, but he's still the same Piglet I love. Once, I thought I'd lost him and I almost cried. I later found him tangled in some clean laundry. He's been with me for breakups and a new job and moving out on my own and quarrantine and losing my job. He's been here for my transition as I finally become the girl I've always known I am. When I finally had a chance to see my extended family in Taiwan for the first time, I wanted to give my grandmother Piglet as a token of my love for a woman I've never met. My grandmother died a month early, and I never got the chance to hand her my friend. Piglet flew with me across the ocean, and kept me company when I experienced my second home for the first time. When I unpacked at my aunt and uncle's apartment, my mother was embarassed and said Piglet looked ratty and grey, but I didn't care. I am a trans woman, and my extended family embraced it and even helped me find cute clothes at the beginning of my transition. After the funeral, on our way to the airport, my mother said my grandmother always wanted a granddaughter. A year later, I cut ties with her after finally accepting that she is a narcissistic abuser. I haven't spoken to her in over six months. Piglet is still with me, even right now. He's a very good friend, and he's never let me down. You could say that my love has given the object life, but I think it's really the other way around. We are receptacles to meaning at the same time that we assign meaning to everything around us. The still life is only a reflection of what is already inside ourselves, and in a simple toy, I found that the kind of love i needed was inside me all along. To hold objects, to experience them and connect with them, just as we do other people, is to be human.

[@Ghi102]

With Still Life paintings, there's something we don't notice anymore that would have been obvious to anyone living 100 years ago. The painting could not exist in real life because it depicts fruits and flowers that don't grow at the same time. Some fruits simply would have gone bad by the time you could paint the scene. They, in part, did this to remind us of the temporary lives that we live, which is also why skulls often feature in still life

[@Vote4Drizzt]

I think the triviality of getting a realistic picture plays into the way we might dismiss it too. I have a phone in my pocket and no time since I was born has it been hard to get a snapshot of any mundane object. Someone spending hours painting a fruit would seem likely to warrant a second thought if you didn't instinctively think of it as pointless inferior representation but instead hours of work

[@m0rShh]

So they're like the pre-21st century equivalent of an epic cross-over event. "YES! Pears and oranges together at last!"

[@yonatanbeer3475]

@@m0rShh the cornucopia was the most ambitious crossover event in history.

[@yonatanbeer3475]

It's interesting how cultural and technological context really affects how we see something as close to reality as still lives.

[@masterpig5s]

Interesting

[@setheus]

This makes me think of a big part of the mental health community: stimming/grounding. When you're stuck in the storm that's going on in your head, running your hands against a brush, or squishing an old toy, things like that brings you back to the stillness of reality. This essay makes me appreciate stims that much more

[@sentry6332]

I just tried that with my hairbrush, and it honestly felt really refreshing to be focusing on one thing and one thing only for a few seconds... thanks.

[@lindboknifeandtool]

There’s little EDC items called “worry stones” made out of cool materials with cool textures. Look into them, I’m probably going to be making some soon too.

[@anonymous_wednesday]

this is actually one of the tips for coping with self harm for this reason!!

[@cdogthehedgehog6923]

I have slime with rubber gummy bears in it. It works wonders lol

[@mikuenjoyerXD]

​@@cdogthehedgehog6923 im jealous, i want to poke it !!!

[@Pariroach]

This exact video explains why I love handmade ceramics so much. Ceramists dedicate their lives to creating intimate everyday objects . Every handmade mug I own I cherish so much.

[@lindboknifeandtool]

And knives!

[@tarwin]

Oooh. Sending that straight to Florence devs. They're gonna appreciate it muchly!

[@MrSergayfgtxd]

I just bought the game, I spend money on a game I never heard of just because he said he enjoyed it....welp gonna see if I like it lmao

[@tarwin]

@@MrSergayfgtxd you may enjoy it. Not certain. It's ... not very game-y. It's more like reading a short story.

[@j2me991]

They are quite nice, I'm sure they will love how intimate this video is, as well as its game

[@Exel3nce]

@@tarwin a little too short imo. its just turns too quick and makes all the events ...not touchable

[@YOjeremyRaps]

@@Exel3nce I think the brevity of it works in its favor. It touches on all the major beats of a relationship without any redundant moments. If you've gone through a relationship like this, then you should be able to empathize by drawing on your own personal experiences: you remember when things felt new and exciting, you remember when things became routine, you remember when you fought, and you remember how it felt when you drifted apart. When I think about an ex, I think about these moments and feelings - the overarching narrative of that relationship. I think by touching on these grand throughlines and intimate moments, over some redundant minutia, this game allows us to empathize more deeply. But that's all just my opinion and take on the game.

[@snowttrpg]

I couldn't help but think about the internet tradition of sharing a picture of your gaming space, your "battle station", with others in threads and forums. I feel like that's a very interesting form of Still Life that maybe never got the attention it deserved.

[@suckstosuck7605]

yeah the photos of how people decorate with figurines or have sodas laying around or what they have playing on that computer or what their screen saver is. it’s an oddly intimate space considering how much time some people spend at it.

[@ryansabin2618]

Dude I totally never thought of that! I 100% agree with you

[@incyray9709]

Makes me think of all the pictures I (and many others) have stored on their computers of my Minecraft houses (and worlds), or my Don't Starve bases- and especially, the screenshots I have of strange world generation that I've come across. There's a special feeling that digging through massive folders full of screenshots, and seeing pictures of glitches and odd consequences of code gives me, because they're pictures of ephemeral strange things that are both trivial both in terms of real life, and gameplay, but which still remain special simply for their strangeness, and the brief experience they chronicle.

[@CadgerChristmasLightShow]

I used to literally take dozens of pictures of my “gaming setup” when I was a kid, all the way until high school, and I would look back at them years later and reminisce about the consoles and games I used to own and the fun I had with them. I even posted many of them on social media to show my friends my game/console collection and what games I played.

[@SleepyMatt-zzz]

I love viewing gamer spaces, the worse and messier the better.

[@Se7enRemain]

Just last month, I decided to pick up every single Miyizaki film from the public Library. Not only do I just love the library; but I've had my ear talked off about any and every one of his works, all depending on the person I'm talking to. The most stunning part was just.. the reverence for every object. Castle Cagliostro pays mind to the trash that's left from a stakeout dinner, NausicaA is clearly absolutely enamored with the resources gained from exploring nature, and castle in the sky seems to be ingrained with tin pitchers. I dont know. In a point of my life where optimism is just spilling out of me, putting stake in everything unimportant becomes easier, and infinitely more valuable

[@Se7enRemain]

Also, I love you :-)

[@Aleuriom]

2 minutes ago in this video, 6 hours on this comment.

[@sal6695]

Ok brad

[@dildonius]

God, I really worry that humans are very stupidly going to allow The Library to die off.

[@Se7enRemain]

@@Aleuriom Give money to Jacob Geller! (If you can) having to go down a couple tiers after corona got me laid off hurt; but I've gained so much joy and insight from the videos he puts out. If I can support him even a little bit, it's worth it. You also get really good director commentaries. The art theft and artificial loneliness ones are both absolute gems

[@pixiequeer]

maybe someday you'll make a video talking about art that doesn't make me start crying, but today is not that day

[@thegreatdream8427]

I know right? I don't know how it happened, I'm not a crying type of person, but PICTURES OF FRUIT and a CELL PHONE GAME (which I haven't even played, just saw his pictures from) made me want to bawl. There's just something so *honest* and *real* and *loving* about paying so much attention to small things we normally ignore. I want to hug the cup I drank coffee from this morning now, and the bowl I ate my cereal from. I want them to know I love them!!

[@alexnoman1498]

My grandmother had a small table that was in active use. Yet, it constantly, always looked like a still life. Subtly different from yesterday, but unmistacably a rhopography throughout. Strange, but familiar.

[@jamesgilbert124]

"Swing a stick in a Cezanne gallery and you're gonna hit a bowl of apples." ...and promptly be asked to leave and not return.

[@renerpho]

You better enjoy every moment of it, because you won't get a second chance.

[@connorbennett1131]

Every time Jacob uploads 10 years are added to my life span

[@musik-ym8rk]

10 yeare of experience are added to my brain

[@mitchelllimque2027]

That’s I think 340 years at the time of posting

[@cuanchulainn]

im gonna live forever, baby

[@Julian_H]

I remember stumbling upon a somewhat hidden room in Alyx, which was just a hideout that someone had lived in for a while. There were books that I could read the front and backs of, some stored bottles of wine and vodka, a bed, and just a whole bunch of small objects that told the story of someone who used to be here.

[@destinedtofail6518]

I’m being as honest and blatant as I can be about this. Your concept of a Still Life painting being “punk” has radically shifted my view of art. Thank you.

[@lizarduz]

It's also an aspect that I love that the HL: Alyx simply referred to the enemy in question as "Jeff". Many games tend to try and name a particular enemy type as a general thing, a revenant, a zombie, a stalker, a clicker, or such. But for Jeff, he's just Jeff, a very mundane name that might not have been his actual name, but it's still a reminder that he was once a person with dreams, aspirations and goals, loved ones, friends. But the Combine both directly and indirectly robbed him of all of that, both by being a Combine worker tasked to take care of some of the Xen infestations, and also by the Xen itself of which isn't Combine's fault directly but has been largely ignoring in the human ghettos, most notably those of rebellious activity. Larry seems to have known Jeff for a while, at least long enough to know how he ticks and works, indicating that he's largely been around him in the same way you're forced to, seemingly accepting Jeff as another element of his life, and choosing to remember that he was once human, even if it may not have been his actual name of when he was a human, it's still something to remind one that he once was one, which is easy to forget as you try and not get horribly murdered by him.

[@SpoonyBard88]

Drayloth the Mutilator, Destroyer of Worlds and End of Days

[@FlorSilvestre12]

Throughout this video I kept casting fond glances over at the still life I painted that sits unframed on a wobbly shelf. Ironically, it's not the subject matter depicted in the painting that holds meaning to me; it's just a few random objects arranged by an art teacher for a practice exercise in acrylics. It's the painting itself that's special. Over half a decade ago, I abandoned my old life in an abusive home. This painting was the only one of mine I was able to smuggle out because it had been damaged in transport home from art class and therefore was never framed and hung on a wall. It's survived every desperate move, every rough living situation I've survived since. A few years after I left, the house I grew up in burned down. No one was hurt, but the building was a total loss. Paintings left hanging on the walls would have been completely destroyed. My little damaged still life has never hung on a wall, and because of that it is the only one that survived.

[@soliennanyhte9701]

this video came at a perfect time for me. i'm leaving for college at the end of this week, and right now it's a struggle to look through the sheer amount of things i have and see which i should throw away, which should be put in storage, and which i should (and am able to) take with me. this video put into words that sense of intimacy and personality and liveliness that comes with taking an actual look around you, at all the objects that are YOURS, and understanding what they say about you and what they say TO you

[@drakewarrior1013]

Good luck with this new and (hopefully) exciting chapter of your life!

[@McGunpla]

I started college last year, good luck on your classes and fitting into your new life!

[@katiem.3109]

Actually, one of my favorite interactive fiction games is about exactly what you just described! (i.e., when moving, deciding which things to pack, store, or throw away) It's called Detritus.

[@magicalquack5902]

Don’t even need to watch it already know it’s gonna be heat

[@soulmechanics7946]

Right? I am excited to see him post.

[@keeproaring4736]

Heat?

[@jackskellington7099]

@@keeproaring4736 Heat is like good content, its usually used for music. He put out a really good video, he put out some heat

[@blarg324]

Do the stanky leg

[@ethanmartinez7182]

I never understood appreciation for still life art till now The way you speak about your engagement with media has quickly made this one of my favorite channels of all time

[@tychoonthemoon6824]

I always love the objects you can find in video games, It just makes you ask "What happened here?" or "Who owns this?" "Who did this?!" Details really adds a lot to the atmosphere of a environment , and then to INTERACT with items, throw them, use them, look at them from all angles just adds something that was never there, its beautiful I'm glad you can do that. They can tell a whole story and it's amazing.

[@gregorycarmichael6907]

This gave me an idea. With the importance of telling a story through interactable environments, in vr you could reasonably have a board just covered with sticky notes that you could pick off and read, with more under them.

[@turbulence5691]

This was one thing I loved about Oblivion. I know not all of the items in it are the most interesting, but something about the cities, houses, the people within them and their lives touched me i guess And obviously its amazing to have any item that connects to the larger TES lore

[@AudaxTempus]

One of my favorite parts of Florence isn't mentioned in this video. When you're moving Krish's stuff out, you'll find that things are...not the way you set them up. Some of his stuff has been removed and replaced with items that you put in storage during the moving-in scene. Some things have changed place, like some of the possessions being moved from the top of the bookcase to the bottom. It tells so much about the dynamic of the relationship and how it has changed without ever saying what the reasons behind its demise are, and I really admire the thought and awareness required to put that into the game. Thank you for recommending this to me, it was really an experience I wasn't expecting.

[@Callie_Cosmo]

“His toothbrush... fits” Sounds like a demand rather than an opinion lol

[@mangsmoof]

On the subject of still life, one of Salvador Dali's best art pieces imo is his "Basket of Bread". It's before he dove deep into surrealism and there's such a stark ominous aura behind it even though it's literally just a bread basket on a tablecloth. Definitely recommend giving it a look!

[@RPBiohazard]

Wow! Thanks for the tip. It’s got the same ominous and heart-dropping emptiness as a photo of a planet hanging in space. But it’s bread. Incredible

[@NoReplyAsset]

yeah it's in such a dim environment, and alarmingly close to the edge of the table, interesting

[@zeltzamer4010]

It’s like surreal realism.

[@kipp4805]

The calm before the storm lmao. See: Mae West Room

[@Mariaratgirl]

This man got me tearing up over peaches and cupboards

[@senseweaver01]

You've just made my toaster like 43% more interesting

[@homunculi0408]

"No one stumbles into this table and whips out an easel" My sims, always having an easel in their inventory: I'mma whip out my easel and paint this.

[@SunroseStudios]

"can a still life be punk?" gods i never thought of it this way but yes

[@mrsb50]

The art history classes I took in college were some of the most tedious to sit through, but a few things stuck, and one of those things is that Cezanne is considered the Father of Cubism. The skewed perspective/angles that you pointed out are evidence of this-good eye! I have a real soft spot for the Dutch still life paintings of excess, like the ones with scraps of food carelessly left all over the table. I’m glad that you came to appreciate those and other still life variations over time!

[@charliec.1347]

That one line in Forest Gump comes to mind: "You can tell a lot about a person by their shoes, Where they going, where they been."

[@diyaarora7126]

The last bit on Florence reminded me perfectly about Unpacking - it's the same thing, bringing stuff with you from place to place to place, some odd knickkancks stick with you from when you're five, other's get upgraded and replaced, and then there's these little touches that leave such an expression of story. (seriously, both when she moves in with him, and when she moves out, you get little bit of whyyyyy and I love it so muchhhhhh)

[@NoReplyAsset]

"can a still life be punk?" I love this

[@nostalgicinmybones]

rhopography greatly reminds me of van gogh’s chair paintings-they’re less of *things*, but more of the people said things belong to, a tangible presence in their absence. something very intimate about gazing over someone’s personal belongings, like they’re there, but they’re not. i really loved this video, yet another fantastic deep dive into some very compelling ideas!

[@ari_anon]

just finished florence. incredibly surprised i didn’t cry-i felt like i was. everything was so interactive and amazingly realized. thanks a bunch of talking about it.

[@parkerargyle4112]

It baffles me how well you use your words. The word choice, the structure... it all flows so well. An art to study for sure. Anyway, this is another knockout video for me.

[@MarquisdeL3]

You finally made the appeal of VR click for me in a way it never has. It's the same thing that I love about escape rooms. I'm There. In the World. Doing the Thing. With My Own Hands. Your description of going from dismissing still lifes to being awed by them reminds me of my own experience with the works of Thomas Cole. I grew up in the Catskills , so I would hear people go on about how Thomas Cole was so brilliant, yadda yadda, but I always found his works underwhelming. I could look out any window of my parents' house and see the same image. Why should I care about Thomas Cole? But then a few things happened. First, I moved out of the Catskills. And second, I got to work with some of Cole's journals and sketchbooks. And seeing the way he developed his paintings out of the sketches of the landscape and reading the way he talked about how miserable he was in the city but how going upstate and hiking through the mountains brought him so much joy, it made me reevaluate his paintings and the views I had taken for granted. He was trying to capture the beauty he saw and the joy he found and show it to people. It made me think about the area I grew up with fresh eyes. (There's also a bit in one of Cole's notebooks where he talks about the idea of a musical instrument that plays color instead of sound that was just so engaging to me.)

[@rerere284]

The description of that instrument reminds me of a gmod addon that played a different note based on the direction you looked in, and it made some color float in the air where you played. The "Wowozela".

[@p-y8210]

Piggybacking of your musical instrument comment the genius (and insane) composer alexander scriabin invented a keyboard with notes that would correspond to colors as given by scrabian's synesthetic system. Only one version was constructed, for his perfomance of his Prometheus poem of fire in 1915.

[@sponge917]

this was maybe the first time I *actually* paused a video essay to go play a game or watch a movie or whatever and it was definitely the right decision to do that with Florence, I even went and curled up on a couch so that line made me laugh when I came back to this video

[@Sinetheballwoman]

I love how he actually puts thought into his adds and Ties them in with the essay so the feel less out of place

[@hexeddecimals]

florence, had it been a graphic novel, would have been the epitome of "show, don't tell." It does so much with barely any words. florence, as a video game, is the epitome of "act, don't show." It does so much with barely any movement. I think that's why florence fits so nicely into a still life. There is movement, but it is minimal movement for maximum impact.

[@isabelleliu151]

My favorite quote from this video: "Art, and the way we frame it, is inextricably linked to the world we live in. Not even a bowl of fruit is truly removed from the context of its creation." Wonderful video, Jacob! I hope you make more like this that bring to light the uniqueness and value of indie games like Florence.

[@willafowler5530]

tell me why i'm on the verge of tears after watching a video about bottled video game liquid.

[@brotatochip42]

Same.

[@couchman-sw6jy]

That’s the beauty of James geller

[@Troublemanzf]

I really can't put words to say how good this video is... nobody will probably even read this so idk why i put so much effort to grasp but, in one way or another, you've made me see life in a different way. The quality of your work is surreal, hopefully you can keep at it. Cheers. Cont. As someone that has depression and anxiety i've came to see the colors, to take a time and admire the common things and people in my day to day, well thank you for helping me see this node in life as i used to stop to see in games.

[@14fallingstars]

The inclusion of music from both Gone Home and Florence pretty much guaranteed that I was gonna cry, which I did. But also, this video just filled me with a sense of joy about the intimacy in the everyday. Great work!

[@noisegrrrl]

i cried too :'(

[@LBLBLBLBLBLBLBLBLBLB]

You're onto something here. I read an article some time ago saying that the most compelling VR games wouldn't be the ones that put us in the first-person shooter scenarios that we're used to, but rather the games that really focus on the ability to manipulate the world with your hands and body movement. A lot of VR games try to be games we've already played, but from the VR perspective. These are fine, but these games are often the same or sometimes better without VR. Many of the gameplay and story moments of Half Life: Alyx would have to be drastically changed to work without VR (there is a mod that does this, but some parts of the game are unplayable without hand-tracking). Alyx is truly an experience you really can't get anywhere else.

[@darkninjafirefox]

Click on the objects on my room and I'll tell you all about its meaning and how I acquired it

[@youtubeuniversity3638]

*Clicks your forehead*

[@darkninjafirefox]

@@youtubeuniversity3638 "lights on yet no one's home. Toxic by Britney spears plays faintly in the background."

[@youtubeuniversity3638]

*Clicks the room door*

[@darkninjafirefox]

@@youtubeuniversity3638 "A great tool for getting in and out of rooms. This door came with the house and sometimes locks on it's own, no one knows why."

[@khanch.6807]

@@darkninjafirefox *Clicks on geometry box*

[@misterkefir]

And I always thought that my love for random, normal, mundane objects and stuff was super weird.. Nobody else seem to feel the same as me about them.. I always found it fascinating, pondering about objects - how did they get here, how were they made, who made them, and if they're really old - who used them before me, where have they been during their "lifetime", etc, etc.. Thanks for this video, I enjoyed it a lot. Glad I've found this channel. Cheers!

[@sepiasmith5065]

Seeing the ability to turn the dryer on and open the door and see the clothes, along with the bottles of drinks, genuinely made me smile so big. and 9:34 you poking the side of the object.ahhh it brought me so much joy. I love it. 10:52 DAMN DUDE very cool I think there's a similar reason I love games like Minecraft. you can make your own world and LIVE IN IT! pathways have destinations and beginnings. walls have purpose. doors have purpose. I still have yet to find the right words to describe how I feel about it, but yeah. you can make your own world and stand in a doorway and look down a path that you know leads from the backyard gate to the vegetable garden. it's so cool.

[@Птица-ы3в]

I had the same feeling in Death Stranding, you create bridges and roads yourself together with other players, to help you traverse the world, and you feel like all of them have real tangible purpose and you made your contribution to something important. And after that you just go around the world seeing the physical manifestation of your job. I guess I understand now why people play Minecraft haha

[@Lavenderr07]

I had forgotten about Florence after I had bought it and played it once a few years back. About a year later my boyfriend of 2 years had broken up with me, I was sorting through my stuff about a week or two after the breakup and I came across my switch that I hadn't used for a while. I booted it up and found Florence and instantly remembered the storyline, it was a match of what had happened in my relationship. A game that I had previously found midly sad instantly became a heartwrenching experience, almost like reliving the breakup.

[@FiveSharps]

Came for the fun half life beer, stayed for the heartbreak. Amazing.

[@staltheclown6352]

one cool thing about Florence is that on the switch version at the start it says "Notice. When you play with a Joy-Con controller, attach the strap as shown. Hold the Joy-Con controller securely and do not let go of it."

[@miai.769]

aggh this is wonderful but back to still lifes! I loved hearing about how much value it gives an object and wanted to add on! I read an article a while back in a baroque art history class on the still life and it focused on the precarious nature of them. Most still lives portray porcelein, flowers, fruit, freshly killed game, and they are often balanced on theedge of something about to fall, about to decay. The still life is the act of stilling life, of freezing frame on a moment that is fleeting and reminding us that it will soon be gone. I'm going to go through moodle and try to find the article to link below because I think you'd like it and this whole thing was really wonderful to watch! Thank you!

[@LaikaLovelace]

This video honestly captures the same feeling I got while playing unpacking and watching a life story unfold through boxes, things that stay the same, that change, the fact that placing some items in specific places at various times can hit like a gut punch of either familiarity or of sympathy. If you haven't had a chance to check that one out I cannot recommend it enough, because it's another game that perfectly fits this energy.

[@Smidgenism]

I really want to hear some thoughts about ASMR/"satisfying"/stim videos in relation to the ideas in this video. Lots of these videos are just about experiencing the visuals, sounds, and possible interactions with everyday objects. The exploration and familiarity is grounding in the same way as the things you talked about here, I think

[@AlexLostInWonderland]

As an art history student, man I adore this video. Especially as an art history with a particular interest in eras where still lives were vitally important as status symbols. Paint colors could be wildly expensive so when you see pieces with a lot of blues and yellows, the object itself may not be important, but the colors are vital. Still lives can be wildly boring to look at but they’re some of the easiest pieces to read, especially when you know the cultural content it was painted in. There’s an odd sense of connection back in time too because you see a still life with a lemon and you know what a lemon is, you’ve probably held a lemon, tasted a lemon, and so you’ve had an experience that that person several hundred years ago had. Paintings with fabrics in them are a favorite of mine because you know what that fabric feels like and a good painter could depict that fabric well enough that you know exactly how it feels. Mundane paintings get ignored in favor of more exciting paintings or more modern pieces like picasso etc but they’re far more personal. I should be writing a discussion post right now but here we are. I love this channel, endlessly soothing on a bad day, thank you.

[@floral_stone]

Jacob, you have to stop recommending me beautiful games that make me cry!

[@trans_rights_ftw]

In regards to the segment about HL:A's inventory, another inventory system that stands out to me is Rain World's. In Rain World, you can only hold two, maybe three items maximum. Each of your slugcat's paws can hold one item, and you can store one small object in your stomach. To account for this, the game has a very small pool of items, the most common you'll find are spears and trash, but very occasionally you can get your hands on very useful items like firecracker plants and grappling hook worms, or even explosive spears and grenades! (An important note is that you can't dual-wield spears) In the game, you are in a constant time-crunch (You have to find enough food and then find a suitable shelter in 5-12 minutes - while also trying to progress forward), and when you encounter one of the hundreds of enemies crawling around, you either use your trash and spears to fight them off, or you just hide and hope you can slip past. Naturally items are vital for quick dispatching or escaping of threats, thus giving you plenty of time to secure food. If you don't have items, you'll have a very hard time. The later areas are, coincidentally, where items start spawning for less often - most of the time you'll have to find enemies called Scavengers and steal weapons from them. Pissing off the scavengers is the LAST thing you want to do, they know how to create grenades, use spears, hunt in packs, and track you down; but, you simply cannot go without having some form of weapon. Items matter above all else, without them you'll die. If a spear is thrown at a wall, it will stick to it and function as a platform, which is super useful half the time; however it also produces one of the biggest "oh-crap" moments in the entirety of the game: You throw a spear intended to hit an enemy and it sticks to the wall. In most games, you would just switch to another weapon, reload, swing again. No, in rain world that single mistake will drastically change the course of your 5-12 minute cycle. You are forced to learn that your weapons and items are to be respected and used carefully and conservatively, because one slip-up and create a drastic time-loss, which can often be fatal. Rain World is an masterpiece of a game and I could talk all day about it, but the system that stuck with me the most was the extremely limited, gui-less inventory system. That design has creeped its way time and time again into my game ideas and concepts and it always forces an interesting playstyle and balancing style. Another game that has a really good inventory system is Spelunky 1 & 2, both with only one inventory slot but allowing you to carry anything in the game, even enemies.

[@davidblanchard8529]

Great job on this one. I really enjoy when you talk about art. As an art student, I've done a number of still lifes before and this got me thinking more about just how much more they could have expressed. It's easy to just think of still lifes as something dry and academic that's only useful insofar as it hones your technical skills.

[@NotOnLand]

Still lifes don't typically have skulls in them for any meaning or metaphor, they're there because skulls are a challenge to paint and are good practice for shading weird shapes

[@rippledragon]

Other art that makes me appreciate everyday objects on new levels: miniatures (this would be boring but now it's *tiny* so I love it!) and Liza Lou's Kitchen which is a perfect recreation of a kitchen made of tiny beads. Thanks for the Florence rec, also. It's a beautiful experience

[@tylerh4757]

ugh i wish Unpacking was released in time to be included in this! it takes the 'deciding which rhopos stays' game element from Florence and extends it to tell the story of a person's life through college, relationships, and starting a family. it would have fit perfect in this video.

[@tuckermyrick2609]

The moment I heard him say "liquid shader" I was mind blown. Pretty sure this is the only video game that has done this.

[@Eileeleedon]

My favorite everyday object in video games is working mirrors. Anytime a game has a working mirror, I lose my mind, I love them.

[@GroundPunch2]

Hush now, you're just talking dirty with all that Rhopography.

[@philippereeves9241]

The way you talk a about it, rhopography feels like the reconcilement of Ready-made and Still life. The way they portray the ordinary, sometimes undistinguishable from truth or falsity, is the commonplace they both meet in peace.

[@strawberrysayori-222]

You are criminally underrated, I see you’ve uploaded and instantly I’ve had a good day

[@stephenmsf]

Man I'm glad someone loved Florence as much as I did. I still go back and replay "First Dates" and "Moving In", and I still laugh at the toothbrush gag

[@Thomas-ev4gm]

A game that really fits the theme of this video is unpacked. A game where you just unpack and decorate your room/house as well as putting away the mundane items like your toilet roll and frying pans

[@omideixis]

The game 'Unpacking' contains a lot of this as well, telling a story completely through objects and their placement in a space. I got so emotional on my first playthrough when the main character had to put away her diploma after entering a relationship that I had to put the game down for a while. I'll have to try Florence, it looks like a really lovely game!

[@dionysus6892]

You have to play Unpacked. It’s a game in Steam where you, can you guess? It’s where you unpack. Unpack into new living spaces. A dorm, your first apartment, moving in with your lover, shared apartments… it’s totally made up with what you bring with you to every new location and where you put them. Having to fit your items in with your friends, having to make concessions on where you put things when you move in with your new boyfriend. It’s an amazing game, and with this video you really need to play it

[@artemikurski939]

8:00 - for the first time in forever, Russian writing actually makes sense. In case you're curious, it says roughly 'Limited access. Use your pass to enter'. Jacob is using his pass to enter. Brilliant.

[@ivesbarrera]

Best video essayist on KZbin bar none. You clearly subscribe the the philosophy that analysis itself is an art form. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with us so often. I've felt so deeply watching to your videos, more than nearly any other KZbinr.

[@hiitsaria]

Jacob you're one of my favorite internet discoveries! What a wonderful and amazingly explained analysis, well done!

[@nifa.9929]

the cello in the background in the florence part is still so powerful in my heart that i wanted to cry the whole time aaaaa

[@EdoloChannel]

Today's a good day.

[@l.pietrobon3925]

To not be dead

[@greyknight5823]

It's fascinating to see how many times you talk about how the objects in HL Alyx "feel". I think there must be vast gulfs between different people's experiences of their own senses. The most jarring thing about VR is that objects DON'T feel like anything at all: they only look and sound like objects.

[@fortunatesoul12]

I am having a lot of time to reconsider the everyday objects of my house with the ongoing four-months-and-counting lockdown. Love the content

[@AceWolf456]

I love VR for one major reason. It changes something so simple but so important. It changes how we talk about the games. At least, it did for me and the people around me. Normally when we talk about a weapon swap you'll say "I equipped this thing", but in VR it's more common to hear "I picked up this thing". Even something so mundane as changing weapons gets more intimate in VR and I love it.

[@bellachristoffersen7126]

Your style, as always, has me on the edge of tears by the end. Thank you!

[@oklahomiecitythunder6745]

Am I the only one that, after finishing a Jacob Geller video think "I fucking love art". Seriously, this channel is something else. Congrats on another fantastic video!

[@shytendeakatamanoir9740]

I once show an exposition about the hyperrealism painting movement (which is all about the mundane). The one that really strucked to me was that really small picture of a handkerchief on a beach. It was really photorealistic, and took 4 years to make apparently (or was it 5? 8? I don't really remember). All of these efforts for something so mundane, you wouldn't even think of photographing.

[@11energize]

With friends or girlfriends, I always get almost high on the feeling of touching and moving their things and the other way around. When I make a coffee or a drink the way they like, or when I hold a cigarette for my friend while they do something else and I hand it to them when they comes back for example. Or when someone keeps a seat for you how you like it before they're even sure you're coming. Because you trust them and they trust you You feel so valued it someone elses life and it feels very intimate. A game capturing that feeling is very groundbreaking and I feel like you articulate it perfectly

[@norman6524]

The only sponsorship I'm willing to watch.

[@halcyon_echo42]

I'm not sure if nerf darts count as still life, but I threw 6 darts onto a high wall in my house during a nerf battle for my younger sibling's birthday party when they turned about 12. 3 were taken down by my mother that day by a broom but I stopped her and the other three have somehow stayed attached and my sibling just turned 23 this year. I always check to make sure they're still there when I visit, holding on to a fleeting moment of fun and hoping never to forget what good times we've shared together.

[@robonick3607]

I’m a simple man. I see a Jacob Geller notification, I cut my therapy session ten minutes short.

[@attentionlabel]

Jacob, i've watched a lot of video essays /exposés on KZbin and yours are truly masterful. A joy to watch.

[@stoneytheduck5554]

"A depiction of life" All my brain could manage for a second was "woah"

[@quackyrole4138]

I'll never forget my first 5 minutes with Alyx. I was in a call with my friends when the game first launched. When the game opened I immediately picked up the stuff around and played with it, and then I started throwing it off the balcony. I don't know why, but I just had that instinctive reaction. My friends then joined in, telling me things like "throw this!" "throw that!", and every time I did so we all laughed our asses off. It was the most fun I've had with a VR game ever.

[@raph2550]

Everyone is praising the video, and for good reasons! But I'm actually amazed too by all the wholesome comments here. ❤️

[@darjeelinngg]

it's 2 years later and I just want to say that this youtube video completely changed my life and seems to have permanently cured my depression

[@itcouldbelupus2842]

Really?

[@hunterkillzvs]

You are my favorite youtuber, I love all your stuff. Keep up the great work and have a nice day.

[@silentdagger56]

I’m with you there. I’m always excited when I see him in my notification stream. I’ve always enjoyed literary analysis, but Jacob does it to a whole new level.

[@autumntaylor9795]

Not to be corny, but watching your videos reminds me of why I want to do art, why I want to create anything at all. I can't thank you enough for that.

[@justtrying44]

I saw Florence in the thumbnail and freaked. It's one of the best gaming experiences I've ever had.

[@gibbelst]

Oh you absolutely Must listen to "Beautiful" from the Ordinary Days soundtrack, it's this video in a song. "Warren, we’ve been walking around, Passing statues of angels and portraits of kings So? So, you could choose any one And we’re standing in front of this painting of everyday things It’s beautiful, right?"

[@icandanceifiwantto]

Unpacking by Witch Beam is a beautiful example of storytelling through stuff! It is even more like a still life in that there’s is no player character, just you and the things that make up someone’s life as you unpack them and move into new homes. You follow the subject, an artistic person as they age from adolescence into young adulthood, first love, career building and finding the person that they want to build the rest of their life with. It’s a short, sweet, gorgeous puzzle game that I think of quite often even a year after playing. It’s available on the Nintendo Switch and XBox Gamepass. I’m not sure about other platforms but it’s worth a look.

[@notaguy0599]

i keep coming back to this video, i bought florence for like 10 of my friends, this video changes so much for me, i really see myself being a ton more positive and appreciating in life overall than ever. Even with the hardships i go through, i still cherish every expirience and most little things in life! Cant wait to buy a good mic and translate it to my main language to share it with my family and closest people to me, because this 25 minute video is life-changing