Suspended Short Story

For my short story I chose "The One's Who Walk Away From Omelas" by Ursula K. Le Guin. This short story is set in a city called Omelas, which is presented as somewhat of a utopia, where all of the residents appear to be happy and prosperous. As the story begins, the Festival of Summer is taking place in the city and the narrator describes the joyous celebrations that the people enjoy and the town appears to be the epitome of perfection until the story quickly turns dark and morbid as the narrator reveals the secret that lies at the core 

of the city. A child is being held prisoner in a small, dark basement room in the heart of the town of Omelas. The child, who may have a disability or a deformity that sets it apart from the rest, is left alone in the basement except for very brief intervals when other people come to leave food and water. Although the child begs for release, it is always ignored and kept at the brink of death. The residents of Omelas know of the child but choose to live on with their happy lives. Some are taken to see the child and some go willingly, and they usually react with disgust and shock. However, they are told that if the child is freed, the society of Omelas will collapse, and everything that is good about the city will disappear. Most of the residents accept the situation and decide that the good of the many outweighs the good of the one. On occasion, though, a resident cannot live with this and decide to leave. They walk out of town toward the mountains and never comes back. 

Le Guin's story deals with the moral question of whether a society can live happily, knowing they are doing so at the cost of another's inhumanity. 

Materials used:
-Paper
-Artificial Flowers
-Glass Box

For my sculpture I chose to depict the surrounding mountains of Omelas because I took them to be a very significant aspect of the story. The mountains were what seemed to keep the "perfect" town from the rest of the world, and the few who walked away left through the mountains. The mountains are made out of paper and the tops are spray painted gold. When first reading the short story I saw the clash of summer time and happiness, with darkness. To depict the season of summer I chose to use artificial sunflowers. I wanted to use artificial flowers to symbolize the artificial aspects of Omelas. I spray painted the top flowers yellow and they ranged in size, symbolizing the citizens of Omelas, and the happy lives they supposedly were living. The flowers where arranged in an oval shape because as the narrator described Omelas, I saw it as an oval town with surrounding mountains. The top part of the piece is happy and bright, leading to a dark underground that leads to a single black sunflower that symbolizes the poor child that has been shunned from civilization. The black sunflower is incased in a glass box to show how fragile the happy town of Omelas actually is. The sense of perfection that the town thrives on could all be shattered by the one sunflower.

In Process:

Final:

New Shoes?

Masking Tape Shoes:

I made a new pair of shoes out of strictly masking tape. This helped me to work on proper proportions and attention to detail. I really making these masterpieces and was able to wear/walk in them after I was done.

Memento

*IN PROCESS PICTURES

Memento:

The memory I chose for my memento piece was my first shark encounter. When I was 10 years old, I went on a surf trip with my family to La Jolla, California. When we got there the coast was experiencing red tide, or a severe algal bloom (a rapid increase of algae population in a given area-not particularly healthy for surrounding wildlife). The red tide causes the ocean to turn a dark red tint and makes it impossible to see even a few inches into the sea water. The first three days of our trip we got to experience the red tide, which gave the water a super ominous look and you were unable to see what may be swimming around you (ignorance can sometimes be bliss). On the fourth day, the red tide was completely gone and the ocean was crystal clear, allowing you to see the overabundance of sea life swimming around you. I decided to paddle out with my dad for an early morning surf, slightly overwhelmed by how visible the sea life was and how much activity there was. Half way out to the line up I noticed a lurking shadow to the left of me and looked over just in time to see a rather large shark swimming right at me and before I knew what was going on the shark bumped into my surfboard and knocked me into the clear water. This startled the shark and it swam a few yards away only to circle around and swim directly at me. Thankfully, my father was right by my side this whole time and he saw what was happening and he jumped into the water, splashing, in order to scare away the shark. This tactic worked and the shark swam off. I got back on my board, swearing I would never surf again and heading for shore when my dad proceeded to swim over to me. He told me to "suck it up buttercup" and made me paddle out into the line up. He wanted me to face my fear so I would become afraid of the thing I loved.

3 Materials:

Grey Leather- Ominous tone, texture and color symbolizing the shark, the material of leather also symbolizes strength and bondage.

Red Surf Wax- The wax symbolizes not only the surfboard and surfing but the overall day, the color red symbolizing literally the red tide but also figuratively danger and fear.

Clear Masking Tape- Symbolizing the crystal clear water, the texture represents my memory of the water that day.

I used two triangles, one made out of the grey leather and one made out of melted surf wax. I utilized the triangles because I wanted to emphasize the number three: me, my father, and the shark. The triangle also represents the triangular placement of all three of us along with the shape the sharks fin and the tip of my surfboard which were the last things I saw before getting knocked into the water. The triangles differ. The smaller triangle is covered the red wax, in which the wax underneath represents the red tide and the cause to the effect of what happened that day. This wax is then covered in the clear masking tape to show the transition from the red tide to the crystal clear water and the wax melted on top of the tape symbolizes the danger of the situation and the fear that surfaced as soon as I saw the shark. The surf wax is dripping in a downward/ fleeting fashion to represent the fact that I was overcome by the sense of fear by had to quickly overcome it and move onward. The other triangle is bigger and constructed out of the grey leather and also covered in the clear masking tape. This is a representation of the shark, being completely visible through the clear water. The crinkle effect that the masking tape makes is a representation of how the water looked after the shark hit me and I fell into the water. The smaller triangle not only symbolize how small I felt next to the shark but the bondage between the small triangle and the large triangle symbolizes my connection to my father, how metaphorically big he looked coming to my rescue. He became a heroic figure that day and the leather noted bond is the bond I felt with him after this day. 

On Longing (Memento)

1. "The body is the primary mode of perceiving scale."

2. "Capacity of objects to serve as traces of authentic experience."

The Authentic Object?

A Child's-Eye View

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~evansem/Authentic.Object.pdf

3. "The souvenir reduces the public, the monumental and the 3 dimensional into the miniature which can be enveloped by the body."

This is Pedro. He is a miniature figurine that was acquired at South of the Border (cheesy "amusement" park that borders South Carolina and North Carolina). I stopped at South of the Border for the first time the summer after I graduated high school. My best friend and I went on a 2 week road trip (Florida-South Carolina- North Carolina-Virgina- D.C.- Tennessee- South Carolina- Florida). It was the first major trip I have ever been on without my parents and it was the beginning of a wonderful and long lasting friendship. Pedro was the first souvenir we bought and he became our mascot for the rest of the trip and continues to be my good luck charm. Pedro comes with me everywhere.

4. "Nostalgia can not be sustained without lost." 

Iron & Wine- Trapeze Swinger:

 

5. "To have a souvenir of the exotic is to posses both the specimen and a trophy.

This is Sadie, my Hedgehog. She is my souvenir of the exotic, both a specimen and a trophy, one I show off to the world and love dearly.





6. "The place of origin must remain unavailable in order for desire to generated."

                               

"Long Distance"

By Brandy (re-done by Bruno Mars)

There's only so many songs that I can sing

To pass the time

And I'm running out of things to do

To get you off my mind

Oooh...

All I have is this picture in a frame

That I hold close to see your face everyday

With you is where I'd rather be

But we're stuck where we are

And it's so hard, you're so far

This long distance is killing me

I wish that you were here with me

But we're stuck where we are

And it's so hard, you're so far

This long distance is killing me

It's so hard, it's so hard

Where we are, where we are

You're so far

This long distance is killing me

It's so hard, it's so hard

Where we are, where we are

You're so far

This long distance is killing me

Now the minutes feel like hours

And the hours feel like days

While I'm away

Ya know right now I can't be home

But I'm coming home soon

Coming home soon

All I have is this picture in a frame

That I hold close to see your face again

Oh!

With you is where I'd rather be

(Where I'd rather be)

But we're stuck where we are (Oh)

And it's so hard (Oh)

You're so far (Oh)

This long distance is killing me

I wish that you were here with me

(You were here with me)

But we're stuck where we are (Oh)

It's so hard (Oh)

You're so far (Oh)

Can you hear me crying?

(Ooohhh... ooohhhh...)

Can you hear me crying?

(Ooohhh... ooohhhh...)

Can you hear me crying?

(Ooohhh... ooohhhh...)

With you is where I'd rather be

(Where I'd rather be)

But we're stuck where we are (Oh)

And it's so hard (Oh)

You're so far (Oh)

This long distance is killing me

I wish that you were here with me

(You were here with me)

But we're stuck where we are (Oh)

And it's so hard (Oh)

You're so far (Oh)

This long distance is killing me

It's so hard, It's so hard

Where we are, where we are

You're so far

This long distance is killing me

It's so hard it's so hard

Where we are, where we are

You're so far

This long distance is killing me

There's only so many songs that I can sing

To pass the time

Elements and Principals in 3D (paper)

*TAKE MORE PROFESSIONAL PICTURES (NO LINE IN BACKGROUND)


Work in progress:

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Texture Sculpture

This piece represents the element of texture utilizing wet and torn up card stock, dried and peeled wood glue, dry card stock, and masking tape. I wanted to be able to showcase all of the materials and different states in order to depict texture. So I used dry card stock for the bases, wet crumpled up card stock that was collaged on the top, and then two strips of card stock were soaked in water and cut to make a grass skirt appearance. I used the wood glue as a adhesive element but also as a decorative one. I portrayed a decorative swirl on the top to contrast the glossy look of the glue to the rough crumpled up paper and then I did strips of the glue, let it dry, and incorporated it among the cut paper again for texture contrast. The element of repetition is also utilized amongst this piece. 

Focal Point/ Space Sculpture

This piece represents the principal of focal point but also space with repetitive use of twirled up pieces of paper. To construct it, I used white card stock, masking tape, packing tape and wood glue. This piece goes back into space, creating an interesting combination of sphere, rectangular, and v-like shapes. This was originally designed for focal point, with a suspended sphere made out of masking tape in the middle of the oval cut out, using a circle of rolled up masking tape around it to help draw the eye to this point. But after the construction was complete the rolled up masking tape creating a circular motion around the piece drawing your eye away from the intended focal point and the suspended sphere along with how the overall body was constructed created nice shadows and emphasized the design element of space.

Repetition Sculpture

This piece represents the principal of repetition with the repetitive use of twirled up pieces of paper. To construct it, I used white card stock, masking tape, packing tape and wood glue. The element of repetition is depicted by the repeated use of rolled up card stock secured by masking tape and glued to a box of card stock. When I first started this piece I had just planned on using the box, but the design created by the repetition was better displayed when it was elevated. I was inspired by the look of an apple tree.

A Few Of Your Favorite Things

These are a few of my favorite things.

Dog- This isn't exactly a "thing" but she is definitely my favorite. This is Kona Bean, my 8 month old "lab-pit-beagle" puppy. She is my little miracle puppy who has survived getting abandoned on the side of the road, drowning in a ditch, a nasty genetic skin disorder, and getting run over by a car. She is like my child and I'm so thankful to have this bundle of joy in my life.

Hedgehog Toy- This toy is a stand in for my actual hedgehog, Sadie, who is also one of my favorites. She is a little over a year old and I've had her since she was two months. She was my first pet living on my own and helped to add some responsibility to my life. She is the most interesting creature I've ever encountered and has so much character. She isn't photographed here due to the fact that her and the dog do not get along (shown above- dog gravitates straight for the hedgehog toy, proceeding to try and eat it).

Coffee- Coffee is an essential in my everyday life. I start my morning routine with a cup of coffee while I take the dog for a walk. Kona coffee (featured above) is my favorite coffee, and where my dog got her name (Kona Bean).

Sticky Bumps (surf wax)- This is a symbol of my family and my home. I've grown up on the beach, in a family of surfers, with a father who works in the surf industry. Surfing has been such a big part of my life for as long as I can remember and will always be on of my favorite things. The beach and the ocean are a get away and bring back some sanity into my life, I could never live far from the beach.

Varsity Volleyball Pin- I played varsity volleyball in high school and had planned to play in college until I blew my knee and needed a few surgeries. My life would be in a completely different place and I may have been led down a completely different path if I hadn't hurt myself, this pin is a reminder of this. I still play when I can.

The Awakening- My absolute favorite book. I re-read it about 4 times a year.

Canvas- My passion is painting. I've never been all that talented but it is soothing to the soul, and I very much enjoy it. I can get lost in a painting for hours.

Sketchbook- I carry a sketch book with me everywhere. I like to be able to jot down ideas, images, song lyrics, or anything I find interesting and inspiring.