mardoandjoseph

We'd like to sincerely thank Superstar Robert Chilingirian for his amazing contribution on scene 8, "The Wedding."



Click here for our NEW website!!!As sociologists, one of our most daunting and rewarding tasks is to identify patterns in human interaction. The great sociologist Irving Goffman coined the term "Civil Inattention" which describes how human beings behave when two strangers approach one another on a sidewalk. At approximately 13 feet, they each look up, make 1-2 seconds of eye contact and then approach one another usually never looking up again until they pass one another. They then walk in opposite directions, forever.



Sometimes, sociologists come across exceptional cases that pique our curiosity and challenge everything we hold as fundamental truths about human beings. When this happens, we don't only call our theories into question, we also question who we are.



This happened when I met Mardo and Joseph for the first time at a wedding. A half-Armenian myself, I've been to my share of Armenian weddings. When I saw Mardo and Joseph approach me in the hallway of the banquet hall, I had a feeling that these guys were going to change my life. Joseph was staring at me and "tsskk"-ing the meat out of his teeth as he approached and Mardo also stared intensely with the walk of a lion. Their eyes never left my gaze and just as we were about to cross paths, Mardo told Joseph "Ays gyotlek-een ov hraveerets?"



Thus began my interest in following the lives of the dynamic duo. A friend of mine arranged for me to hide a tiny, concealed digital recorder in the sleeves of both Mardo's and Joseph's favorite shirts. At the end of each week, before they wash their shirts, he goes to their house and brings me the recorder. He then repositions the digital recorders right after the shirts are washed.



At the end of each week, I compile the most relevant bits of digital data from the recorders and post them on this site. These are 100% unedited depictions of these two in real life. The goal is to gain further insight into who we are, why we do what we do and where we are going. In the end, we are all sociologists and these two offer a glimpse into the fringes of our human experience.