Moments Of Being

Episode

Title

First
Broadcast

Repeated

Comments

Moments Of Being

20220620

20240226 (R3)

The minutiae of life have always fascinated Joanna Robertson. Moments like opening the curtains or shutters in the morning, putting the key in the lock when returning home, making dinner, or smelling the cooking of the neighbours. The author Virginia Woolf dismissed everyday repetitive rituals as 'moments of non-being', by contrast to epiphanies of experience or understanding that she saw as 'moments of being'.

Joanna Robertson argues that on the contrary, the deceptively insignificant everyday, is actually what our lives are made of. They shape, frame and colour our waking moments. Other writers, like Proust, or painters like Vermeer or van Hooch, appear to agree, and have captured the essence of the everyday in their art.

Unlike Virginia Woolf, Joanna Robertson celebrates the minutiae of daily life.

Joanna Robertson argues that on the contrary, the deceptively insignificant everyday is actually what our lives are made of. They shape, frame and colour our waking moments. Other writers, like Proust, or painters like Vermeer or van Hooch, appear to agree, and have captured the essence of the everyday in their art.

Unlike Virginia Woolf, who saw the minutiae of daily life as 'moments of non-being', Joanna Robertson celebrates the moments that shape, frame and colour our lives.

Windows

20220621

20240227 (R3)

The minutiae of the everyday frame, shape and colour our lives. Joanna Robertson lives in Paris, and finds that the views from her fourth-floor flat have a real influence on her daily life. Looking out over the neighbourhood of Montparnasse, her windows let her eye and mind wander over the sites of much recent and not so recent cultural history.

Former residents whose residences she can still see, range from Irish playwright Samuel Beckett to Austro-Hungarian writer Joseph Roth. And, following in the footsteps of painter John Constable, Joanna too goes 'skying', as he called it: observing the sky and its cloudscapes through the window. What's beyond the glass is both separate from, yet also inextricably part of her life.

Joanna Robertson celebrates the impact the views from her windows have on her life.

Joanna Robertson celebrates the impact the views from her windows have on her life, an influence also felt by artists like writer Joseph Roth and painter John Constable.

Going For A Walk

20220622

20240228 (R3)

It's only the minutiae of life that are important,' wrote the Austro-Hungarian author Joseph Roth, announcing that he was 'going for a walk'. Joanna Robertson feels, and does, the same, and finds that far from small, the minutiae are actually infinite. Just walking from her Paris flat to a nearby bakery, yields so many observations, memories and encounters, that they conjure up the life of the whole street. From the homeless man sleeping, and dying, on the monastery's front steps, to the blazing row (and withering put-downs) of two usually tolerant ladies of Polish and Russian heritage respectively. Not to mention the rivalry between Joanna's dogs and those of a well-known model and designer, who every day claim each others' territory in ways only dogs will....

Joanna Robertson celebrates the minutiae of life, showing they are not small but infinite.

Joanna Robertson celebrates the minutiae of everyday life, showing that far from small, they're infinite, as revealed by acute observations and encounters, walking down her street.

The Lives Of Others

20220623

20240229 (R3)

Joanna Robertson believes it's the everyday moments that shape, frame and colour our lives. That includes observing, or imagining, the lives of others around us.

Are portraitists creating a mere image, or capturing the authentic selves of their subjects? The celebrated Belle Epoque painter Giovanni Boldini became a darling of Parisian society with his glamorous portrayals of society women, but a spontaneous portrait of a wealthy couple's gardener in eastern France, possibly painted for Boldini's own eyes only, inside the lid of his paintbox, gloriously reveals the gardener's inner life.

And what about the people we meet or see ourselves? Take the new neighbours who moved into a flat opposite. Their daily rituals, from their apparently perfect breakfast to their equally apparently perfect dinner, with all five regulation courses, every night, all seen through the windows. Why is observing them, with the resulting questioning of Joanna's own habits, such a vivid part of her and her daughters' daily life?

And then Joanna actually meets the family. How do they compare to their imagined selves?

Editor: Penny MurphySound engineer: Nigel Appleton

Joanna Robertson celebrates the minutiae of daily life by imagining the lives of others.

Joanna Robertson celebrates the minutiae of our day-to-day, with acute observations and imaginings of the lives of others, from people painted by artists, to her new neighbours.

05 LAST

Miracle

20220624

20240301 (R3)

Joanna Robertson argues that it's the regular, everyday moments and rituals that make up and frame the fabric of our lives. The details of dress or speech that shape and project an identity. Painters capturing an essence in time, like that of Madame Cezanne in Provence, dressed in blue, hair pulled tautly back into a bun, sitting next to a table with a white cup and saucer, spoon standing upwards in the cup. Or the myriad details, from by-passers to snippets of conversations to the design of a chair or cafe interior, which, when well observed, can turn the instant of taking the first sip of a milky coffee in that same cafe to the level of a miracle, where all surroundings coalesce into one, soul-sweetening moment.

Series Producer: Arlene Gregorius

Series Editor: Penny Murphy

Sitting in a cafe becomes miraculous when all around it coalesces into the one moment.

Joanna Robertson says it is the small details that shape our lives. Drinking a coffee in a cafe becomes miraculous when everything observed around it coalesces into the one moment.

Episodes

Episode	Title	First Broadcast	Repeated	Comments
01	Moments Of Being	20220620	20240226 (R3)	The minutiae of life have always fascinated Joanna Robertson. Moments like opening the curtains or shutters in the morning, putting the key in the lock when returning home, making dinner, or smelling the cooking of the neighbours. The author Virginia Woolf dismissed everyday repetitive rituals as 'moments of non-being', by contrast to epiphanies of experience or understanding that she saw as 'moments of being'. Joanna Robertson argues that on the contrary, the deceptively insignificant everyday, is actually what our lives are made of. They shape, frame and colour our waking moments. Other writers, like Proust, or painters like Vermeer or van Hooch, appear to agree, and have captured the essence of the everyday in their art. Unlike Virginia Woolf, Joanna Robertson celebrates the minutiae of daily life. Joanna Robertson argues that on the contrary, the deceptively insignificant everyday is actually what our lives are made of. They shape, frame and colour our waking moments. Other writers, like Proust, or painters like Vermeer or van Hooch, appear to agree, and have captured the essence of the everyday in their art. Unlike Virginia Woolf, who saw the minutiae of daily life as 'moments of non-being', Joanna Robertson celebrates the moments that shape, frame and colour our lives.
02	Windows	20220621	20240227 (R3)	The minutiae of the everyday frame, shape and colour our lives. Joanna Robertson lives in Paris, and finds that the views from her fourth-floor flat have a real influence on her daily life. Looking out over the neighbourhood of Montparnasse, her windows let her eye and mind wander over the sites of much recent and not so recent cultural history. Former residents whose residences she can still see, range from Irish playwright Samuel Beckett to Austro-Hungarian writer Joseph Roth. And, following in the footsteps of painter John Constable, Joanna too goes 'skying', as he called it: observing the sky and its cloudscapes through the window. What's beyond the glass is both separate from, yet also inextricably part of her life. Joanna Robertson celebrates the impact the views from her windows have on her life. Joanna Robertson celebrates the impact the views from her windows have on her life, an influence also felt by artists like writer Joseph Roth and painter John Constable.
03	Going For A Walk	20220622	20240228 (R3)	It's only the minutiae of life that are important,' wrote the Austro-Hungarian author Joseph Roth, announcing that he was 'going for a walk'. Joanna Robertson feels, and does, the same, and finds that far from small, the minutiae are actually infinite. Just walking from her Paris flat to a nearby bakery, yields so many observations, memories and encounters, that they conjure up the life of the whole street. From the homeless man sleeping, and dying, on the monastery's front steps, to the blazing row (and withering put-downs) of two usually tolerant ladies of Polish and Russian heritage respectively. Not to mention the rivalry between Joanna's dogs and those of a well-known model and designer, who every day claim each others' territory in ways only dogs will.... Joanna Robertson celebrates the minutiae of life, showing they are not small but infinite. Joanna Robertson celebrates the minutiae of everyday life, showing that far from small, they're infinite, as revealed by acute observations and encounters, walking down her street.
04	The Lives Of Others	20220623	20240229 (R3)	Joanna Robertson believes it's the everyday moments that shape, frame and colour our lives. That includes observing, or imagining, the lives of others around us. Are portraitists creating a mere image, or capturing the authentic selves of their subjects? The celebrated Belle Epoque painter Giovanni Boldini became a darling of Parisian society with his glamorous portrayals of society women, but a spontaneous portrait of a wealthy couple's gardener in eastern France, possibly painted for Boldini's own eyes only, inside the lid of his paintbox, gloriously reveals the gardener's inner life. And what about the people we meet or see ourselves? Take the new neighbours who moved into a flat opposite. Their daily rituals, from their apparently perfect breakfast to their equally apparently perfect dinner, with all five regulation courses, every night, all seen through the windows. Why is observing them, with the resulting questioning of Joanna's own habits, such a vivid part of her and her daughters' daily life? And then Joanna actually meets the family. How do they compare to their imagined selves? Editor: Penny MurphySound engineer: Nigel Appleton Joanna Robertson celebrates the minutiae of daily life by imagining the lives of others. Joanna Robertson celebrates the minutiae of our day-to-day, with acute observations and imaginings of the lives of others, from people painted by artists, to her new neighbours.
05 LAST	Miracle	20220624	20240301 (R3)	Joanna Robertson argues that it's the regular, everyday moments and rituals that make up and frame the fabric of our lives. The details of dress or speech that shape and project an identity. Painters capturing an essence in time, like that of Madame Cezanne in Provence, dressed in blue, hair pulled tautly back into a bun, sitting next to a table with a white cup and saucer, spoon standing upwards in the cup. Or the myriad details, from by-passers to snippets of conversations to the design of a chair or cafe interior, which, when well observed, can turn the instant of taking the first sip of a milky coffee in that same cafe to the level of a miracle, where all surroundings coalesce into one, soul-sweetening moment. Series Producer: Arlene Gregorius Series Editor: Penny Murphy Sitting in a cafe becomes miraculous when all around it coalesces into the one moment. Joanna Robertson says it is the small details that shape our lives. Drinking a coffee in a cafe becomes miraculous when everything observed around it coalesces into the one moment.