Looking at artist and designer Danling Xiao’s bright, bizarre Instagram photos is a refreshing change of pace from the usual foodie posts that pop up in your feed. The spare backgrounds and surreal scenarios turn these photos from still-life shots into stages set with mood and personality.
The project is called Mundane Matters, and it’s a side project to Xiao’s main work, The Journey That. In it, Xiao seeks to “[re-create] things from everyday objects that are easily ignored in today’s busy life.” She turns them into something that is “no longer mundane — it is often surprising and delightful.”
Check out her wonderful creations (and their equally awesome captions) below.
“We went a long way from the typewriter to some billion-dollar apps, yet we are still using tissue to wipe that dangling mucus from our noses (like I am now). Why?”
With this project, Xiao urges people to slow down and examine the smaller things in life. “[The project] raises a question: is mundanity really mundane? Maybe it is our ignorance. Because if we look closer, if we slow down our pace and be more mindful of our surroundings, we can actually discover a wonderland inside every mundanity,” she says.
Creating these pieces is spontaneous, so Xiao uses whatever she has sitting around the house and lets the inspiration come naturally. In this way, she uses a simple, unpretentious mindset to create her photos. The results always manage to transcend their origins.
Xiao decided to use Instagram as her sharing method because her goal with Mundane Matters is to reach people. In doing so, she can spread the message of appreciating the small things.
There are plenty more amazing images and philosophical ruminations on Xiao’s Instagram. You can also check out her main website to see her professional work and read some of her essays on design. Be sure to keep up with her on Twitter, too!
