Surrounded by Juxtaposition
Tags: design
Published: 2020-04-24 22:05:40

One of my favorite things to do is take a concept and dig into it. Explore the concept from different angles, apply it to do different things, act like a child and try to see the concept without any bias or preconception. This last part is very difficult, but a really good mental 'stretch'.

Today I pondered juxtaposition and it was really fun! I even tweeted about it in a long form multi-tweet.. tweet, which was a really good experience. It was my first time using that feature on twitter.

Try it, it's really fun! What are some examples of juxtaposition you can find in the world around you?

Here's what I tweeted with a little additional context:

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> Todays word is juxtaposition:
"The fact of two things being seen or placed close together with contrasting effect."

![Goats in city](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/uyry5wa90r4yynghib9r.jpg)
_This is a picture of Goats foraging in Wales... which sounds like a completely different juxtaposition in itself!_

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> You may already be familiar with the dramatic effect and contextual tension that is produced from juxtaposition. Once you start picking up on it, you start seeing it everywhere.

![Wind farm](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/tgkjlx8eon0d3ohlagn7.jpg)
_The juxtaposition of technology across nature, naturally produced electricity funneled through unnatural devices, the destructive nature of our preservation efforts, etc, etc_

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> When a picture is worth a "thousand words", I feel it's often because there is a sense of juxtaposition in the picture.

![Paradise fire cars](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/u4340zs4lhrww315jfge.jpg)
_This is the saddest picture out of all of these. I hesitated to even post it. This is a picture of the Paradise fire aftermath and is a display of much more than just juxtaposition. A forest fire that decimated Paradise (a town in Norther California). The juxtaposition of the car in a hellish landscape, of wheels in fire, of invention being consumed by nature's destruction._

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> Sometimes it seems like juxtaposition is another word for humans doing human stuff! But it's a concept that can be observed in everything across all dimensions we can perceive. Like river flows across a landscape, mapped over time.

![River flows cartography](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/ffp1p9auhqgw4klq84om.jpg)
_I really really love this picture, and there are more online. This is part of a collection of maps that Harold Fisk created back in 1944. More information can be found here: [RADICAL CARTOGRAPHY](http://www.radicalcartography.net/index.html?fisk)_

_At this point in my thought exercise, I started looking beyond the technical definition of juxtaposition and think of it as a general system of understanding contrasting elements._

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> So when you dig a little deeper, you realize that "being seen", in the definition, may not limited to sight. Well maybe technically it is, but with something this fun, all of our senses want to get in on the party!

👃👂👁🖐👅
_Hopefully your browser can see those emojis. If not, they are the emojis for Nose, Ear, Eye, Hand, and Tongue._

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> Take a look at @milesdavis "Bitches Brew", a legendary jazz song by legendary group. In the first 15 seconds, we hear the juxtaposition of the keyboard over the bass. The whole track pretty much a living, breathing example of the concept. And with an album cover to match!

![Miles Davis - Bitches Brew](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/pen0dv4tpmtor966gv7u.jpg)
_Miles Davis - Bitches Brew. If I accomplish one thing here and at least one person listens to this song that hasn't heard it before, I have had succeeded!_

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> Sight, sound, and arguably touch juxtaposition. Well what about taste? 

> Check out a quality taco truck like @kogibbq! The juxtaposition of Korean bbq with Mexican tacos, sweet with savory, spicy with bbq. Food truck culture is fascinating from a juxtaposition perspective.

![Kogi Taco Truck](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/w4mx6sfba376tdntahn7.jpg)
_I might have just gotten hungry by this point. I started tweeting on a whim, DJ Trump style, then forced myself to finish before eating and getting back to responding to emails. So I was a little hungry by this point, lol! But the point is valid and Kogi is so bomb!_