As I’m planning out this next piece I find myself wanting to incorporate the “comfort” segment of the piece less and less.

I’m being more drawn to a scene of the window.

 

It’s a dark atmosphere most likely signifying a bedroom at night.

The area would most likely be blacked out with curtains or something similar.

The only thing visible would be the window and the orange hazy glow emanating from the window.

How far I want that Orange glow to emanate is still a mystery. This is based on how I create the base of the window and what is in front of the lighting that would possibly diffuse it.

Something that has happened in Contemporary History.

If you think about the year 2020 so much has already happened.

It’s gotten to the point where people are talking about how bad 2020 is and they have no expectations of it getting better.

 

There’s also the Presidential election coming up in November and the shit show along with that.

I wanted to watch the debate, I did watch the debate and I was thoroughly disappointed but also amused. Amused by the remarks made by Biden to Trump since he couldn’t stop interrupting but disappointed since the debate was just them arguing and not them speaking on their policies.

Since 2020 has been just a complete shit show that meant that I had so much to look through and work with.

 

Some events that caught my eye were the bush fires in Australia where 46 million acres of land were burned. That’s roughly the size of Syria.

2019-2020 Australian Bushfires

And then came the California Wildfires. Although I’m not experiencing this firsthand I do have family living in California. Their safety and health are something I worry about daily.

These images are from https://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2020/sep/09/california-skies-glow-orange-as-wildfires-continue-in-pictures

The skies in California are glowing orange with the forest fires.

So the fact that the President is doing nothing about this or any of the other major problems that the country is afflicted by is frustrating.

 

 

What I came to

I decided I wanted to create a piece that deals with a lot of people’s ignorance of climate change in a commentary kind of way.

I want to create a fort that is filled with comfort and everything people know in their bubbles that they call their life.

I was thinking of creating some at home forts, made out of sheets, blankets, string lights, basically everything that can be gathered at home.

The surrounding area will be blacked out our covered in a black curtain and on the opposite side there will a window casting an orange shadow into the space.

 

Paper folding, something I grew up doing with family or just for fun. It’s somewhat therapeutic and helps me take my mind off of things.

While I did grow up on Zhezhi (Chinese paper folding), I also grew up watching Japanese anime. These animations showed me that there’s a Japanese legend that says, “Anyone who can fold 1,000 origami cranes will be granted a wish from the gods.” Some stories say that they grant happiness and eternal luck rather than just one wish. One thousand paper cranes are usually given to people that are ill or injured to wish for their recovery.

This came to mind as a homage for my Grandmother. I recently found out that for years she has been dealing with Hepatitis C that led to Cirrhosis in her liver. All that scarring and damage also led to my Grandmother getting Cancer.

So I guess you could see this as me trying to wish my Grandmother good health for many years to come.

 

But how could I take this tradition and make it my own?

Instead of placing each origami crane on a string and lining them up what could I do differently?

I could use the folded cranes and arrange them into one large crane and attach the large crane to strings to then hang it from the ceiling or walls

I could also create a flight of smaller cranes, flying through the sky. 

http://www.edminson.no/only-for-your-thoughts.html

 

Always looking down

 

As a child, I grew up with my grandparents on my dad’s side. One of the things I loved about their house was their pond. I don’t have any pictures of it now since I moved in 4th grade and then my grandfather passes away when I was in middle school and my grandmother passed away while I was in High School. Thinking back on it I remember the patio surrounded by a peach tree and grapevines, the pond with a bridge that led to a gazebo. All the happy memories I associated with that place. I always looked at the koi fish, amazed by their beauty, the shine and colour of their scales, how funny they look when they eat etc.

 

Now I wonder what it would look like on the opposite end. Looking up from where the koi fish were or maybe even lower than that. To catch a glimpse of the world underwater. I’ve always loved watching underwater videos and seeing the light shine through as well as the way light flickers when there are ripples.

How would I be able to recreate a scene like that? The koi, water, foliage and the most important part, the water.

What are the most essential parts that I need

• Koi
• Water

 

Koi could be created from coloured plastic sheets

Paper

 

Water would most likely use light or a projector