Its Only 365 Days
8/365: THE ANTHROPOMORPHIZATION OF FOIL
7 JAN 14
This is one of the first art projects I remember loving in elementary school. Each table was given a big roll of foil and we were taught how to create a basic body shape out of the foil and from there on, it was up to us what we created with it. I immediately set about creating sets of ballet dancers fashioning tutus out of tiny rounds of foil and thinking of my brother, I created a basketball hoop and had a player, just like Michael Jordan, frozen in time in middair shooting the winning shot as the other players stood by in awe of what was about to happen before them.
Over the years I find myself sometimes coming back to the foil people project, or smashing my face into a piece to create a mask of myself. I think when we put on our "adult hats," we think we must forever leave everything good and pure about our child hood behind, but I think its quite the opposite. I've never met an adult who if given a bit of free time and sets of swings doesn't immediately remember winding themselves up for a big jump, or bumping side to side with a friend next door, or winding the swing so tight and then releasing it, so it spins you until your dizzy. It all comes back to you and you miss it. It's good to go back to visit your childhood every once in a while, if not for yourselves, in teaching your kids or young relatives what life was like before kindles, and youtube, and tv, and video games...you know, when kids still played outside.
Speaking of, when Hurricane Ike hit our fair city, it devastated the power infrastructure. Many homes and neighborhoods were without power for months. That meant of course, most electronics were useless. In this black out period, one of the amazing things of note was that children were often seen playing outside with neighbors they didn't even know they had. With "nothing to do" indoors, they were riding bikes, and skating, and playing hand games and cards, and building forts in the rubble. It wasn't just kids either. Neighbors constructed nightly BBQ's whereby they would cook any meat available and sit out under the stars, avoiding the retched sweltering heat indoors, and just sit and shoot the breeze. Unfortunately as soon as this magical period came, it quickly disappeared. The moment the power came back on, everyone went back inside, and dare I say, it has never been the same. It's funny sometimes how the worst of times, can sometimes be the best of times.
8/365: THE ANTHROPOMORPHIZATION OF FOIL
7 JAN 14
This is one of the first art projects I remember loving in elementary school. Each table was given a big roll of foil and we were taught how to create a basic body shape out of the foil and from there on, it was up to us what we created with it. I immediately set about creating sets of ballet dancers fashioning tutus out of tiny rounds of foil and thinking of my brother, I created a basketball hoop and had a player, just like Michael Jordan, frozen in time in middair shooting the winning shot as the other players stood by in awe of what was about to happen before them.
Over the years I find myself sometimes coming back to the foil people project, or smashing my face into a piece to create a mask of myself. I think when we put on our "adult hats," we think we must forever leave everything good and pure about our child hood behind, but I think its quite the opposite. I've never met an adult who if given a bit of free time and sets of swings doesn't immediately remember winding themselves up for a big jump, or bumping side to side with a friend next door, or winding the swing so tight and then releasing it, so it spins you until your dizzy. It all comes back to you and you miss it. It's good to go back to visit your childhood every once in a while, if not for yourselves, in teaching your kids or young relatives what life was like before kindles, and youtube, and tv, and video games...you know, when kids still played outside.
Speaking of, when Hurricane Ike hit our fair city, it devastated the power infrastructure. Many homes and neighborhoods were without power for months. That meant of course, most electronics were useless. In this black out period, one of the amazing things of note was that children were often seen playing outside with neighbors they didn't even know they had. With "nothing to do" indoors, they were riding bikes, and skating, and playing hand games and cards, and building forts in the rubble. It wasn't just kids either. Neighbors constructed nightly BBQ's whereby they would cook any meat available and sit out under the stars, avoiding the retched sweltering heat indoors, and just sit and shoot the breeze. Unfortunately as soon as this magical period came, it quickly disappeared. The moment the power came back on, everyone went back inside, and dare I say, it has never been the same. It's funny sometimes how the worst of times, can sometimes be the best of times.