This project was born when I saw the five-bladed razor. I've used the same type of dual blade razor cartridges since about 1990 - shaving's one of those things that gets ritualized - and it's been attached to the same silver handle with a slight bend in the neck, from a fall to the floor, ages ago. I'd sort of been aware of the evolution of razors - one, two, three. Did we skip four? The next thing I knew, I was seeing ads for a razor cartridge with five blades. I thought to myself - that's total overkill, they're just #@%ing with us, now. And that got me to thinking. My work returns to "overdoing it" from time to time (see Helpful Ideas for Busy Dads). At the same time, there's a current in our society that demands a sort of ruthless, constant improving of things, which is good in that it propels us forward, but it often devolves into a sort of performance for performance's sake - think of your favorite hardcore hiker, amateur athlete, or gearhead. I started thinking about:
If five, then why not fifteen?
Winding a watch must become tiresome after a while.
If there's a bulk discount for some things, why not for every thing?
But then, after all, I've started using the five-bladed razor...and I'm a believer.