The other week our lecturer happily stated that of all the people who have blogged about 'Snoop' by Sam Gosling, only one has disliked it. Unfortunately im another one who is somewhat unconvinced. I received the book and at first glance thought this was going to be completely my kind of read. 'What your stuff says about you', seemed to hold a lot of promise but as i've read on it seems that a lot of his arguments are weak and in fact common sense! "what can we learn about a person from his or her refrigerator...If its immaculate you might infer that the person is slightly neurotic, overly fearful of all the nasty things that evil germs might do to her; but the pristine state might also mean that the owner is away on vacation and tidied up before she left. Or that she's so busy at the office she never eats at home." Apart from describing my mothers regimented fridge to a T, this point doesn't really answer any questions and basically says that it could mean anything. The points he makes aren't really mind blowing and dont seem to be very relevant to the average majority. And when doing assignment 1 i felt i encountered the same problems, anything could mean anything.
For assignment 1 we had to do a 'Snoop' inspired experiment. We were partnered up with a person from another discipline and told to swop either childhood or household photos, then comment on what we thought the other person was like based on what we could see. We had to look at that persons tastes, influences, possessions and environment and then by meeting up with the person, see how accurate we were in our conclusions. Both me and my partner decided to use photos of our bedrooms and i was surprised at initially how hard i found it to gage someones personality based on objects and how conscious i was not to offend.
Here are some of the photos i snooped at.
And here is what i thought about the owner.
From looking at these photos I would firstly say you are a girly girl. There seems to be a lot of pink dotted about and homely decorative objects such as the floral and spotty wall hanging and the pretty flowers around the mirror.
Although clearly lived in the room does feel quite bare as if you like to keep a lot of your stuff at home to keep strong ties with there. Maybe you go home quite a bit at the weekends and see this as a comfy place to live but not your home. The childhood photos also suggest that you look at that time fondly and that you probably have a good relationship with your family.
Your room is full of childhood toys and nik naks, which makes me think that you are not afraid to be yourself and surround yourself with sentimental objects. You’re not trying to shove your style down people’s throats or suck up to people by displaying pictures of fashionable bands or films. I get the impression that you might be a sensitive, easy to get on with person as your room doesn’t give the feeling of a harsh, loud personality.
Visually though I think that nice things are important to you and everything has its place. There is not a lot of clutter and things are arranged on surfaces neatly. This could also link back to strong bonds with parents. Perhaps you come from a tidy home where everything is lain out in little displays and doing this makes you feel at home. Also it looks like everything you have has been well looked after, maybe this is again to do with your upbringing or considerate nature. You don’t look like you are particularly into gadgets, but more ornamental things such as the pretty illustrated wall postcards. However I did spot a mac charger, maybe you bought a mac over a pc because of its design and the fact it looks good or perhaps for your uni course.
You can see that you’re into art by several things dotted around. The black folio, knitted wire, canvases and decorated boxes on your desk all show your creative side. You don’t seem to mind bringing work home with you, making me think that your course is a big part of your life.
It’s obvious that you take interest and care in your appearance judging by the hair extensions and many hair brushes sitting by your mirror, the makeup on your table and the bowl of jewellery on your desk. But not overly so, your beauty products and jewellery are not everywhere it doesn’t rule your life and although you like bold jewellery and nail varnishes you don’t obsess over it. The jewellery looks mostly colourful and so would make me think you’ve got a quirky and creative dress sense. Also down the side of the bed there is a pile of magazines, which makes me think you are keen to keep up with trends.
Overall I feel you have definitely tried to make the room your own although it’s not somewhere you see yourself staying.
As i got more into the exercise i found it easier to think of reasons and traits behind the objects. Although i still felt that i was largely making it up or i suppose using common sense. However i was really surprised at how accurate on some things i seemed to be and how inaccurate the point about going home at the weekends was. This was something i was pretty sure was right!
Here is what my partner commented.
A lot of what you’ve said is right, I’m surprised about what you can pick up on just from photos. I am really girly and I think that’s obvious in everything about me! It’s funny that you said I might go home at the weekends a lot because I rarely ever go back home unless it’s Christmas etc but you’re right with my home ties to my dad who is in the childhood photos with me. I like that you said you would think I’m not afraid to be myself as in general I don’t like to worry or concentrate on what other people think. I do have a mac and I hate pc’s, but that’s mainly from growing up with macs in the house and my dad hating pcs. I do love art and think it’s nice to have arty things on display, I don’t like bare walls and think rooms should always be made to look nice. I can’t believe I have hair extensions in the photos, I never even noticed haha. I do love hair and beauty etc but it’s not the main thing in my life. I think you’re right in saying it’s not somewhere where I see myself staying because I see myself only in Dundee for my uni course and can’t wait to move away to somewhere new when I’m finished.
I have to say that i think you can tell a lot about a person by their room and in this sense "Snoop" is right and i have improved my observational skills and thinking, by taking its advise. At first i wasn't keen at all on sharing pictures of my bedroom but at the same time i was curious to see what a stranger would pick up on and she was nearly spot on. I think as the exercise has progresses my preconceptions have fallen away and i my dislike for 'Snoop' has lessened. It has highlighted to me that how we dress and the things we have do subconsciously create impressions. It has made me wonder whether i personally have my room this way and dress how i do for myself or for other people? And at the moment i don't really know. In ways its for myself, to make me feel at home and to make me feel good but do i feel good because other people think, 'she has a nice room'? Its hard to come to a conclusion about yourself and your stuff when thinking about it personally, so getting an outside opinions is very interesting and thats where 'Snoop' comes in.
