Kalila Snow Jan: Installation Artwork "Sorrow"

This project focuses on human emotion; we needed to create a box with 3 difference shape that described a strong emotion. For example, we can find that loneliness was a common theme in many songs, and we can express and show loneliness manifested in a shadow box through color scheme and lighting. Mixed media is to encourage student to explore type of material to create unique pieces of assemblage box art that are inspired but remember color is the main subject. Each box measurement about 15x15x15inch.

As the assignment brief has changed to create 1 box that describes a human emotion, I have considered expressing the sadness of the six human emotions. My best friend and cat - Kissa had passed away during this semester, I felt like I was broken into pieces, so sad that could not stop crying and tearing. This feeling I had after my best friend’s death triggered me to do create this box project by expressing the emotion of sadness.

The most important thing we should be focusing on for this project is its colour choices, a certain colour gives the human eyes to a certain mood psychologically. As I did some research to choose the right colour for this project, I decided to go with blue as one of Pablo Picasso’s artwork called “The Tragedy” (1903 oil painting on canvas) inspired me. This painting was triggered by the death of Picasso's friend, the Spanish painter Carlos Casagemas, who shot himself because of his unrequited love for the artists' model Germaine Pichot. This chapter of his work became known as his 'blue period'. In 'The Tragedy' (1903) he uses cool blues to evoke the chill of sadness and despair in a typically gloomy subject from this period. Another reason why I chose blue colour is what I found out in the dictionary: according to English dictionary, blue has a few of definitions, one of them states: informal(of a person or mood) melancholy, sad, or depressed. "he's feeling blue”. I also have decided to use some rainbow colour because rainbow colour seem to cheer humans up, it is a sign of positivity and good to use in the project to direct the concept that no matter whatever bad things happened, eventually we all have to be positive and move on.

Here is a final look of this project, all the applied materials were recycled, for example, the box is made by paper and it is from a box of mineral water; the heart in the box was a gift when I was a kid, it has been with me for quite a longtime; and the branches were found on the streets under the trees; the CDs were recycled from a musician friend, cause these CDs were not working.

I also applied dead tree leaves with a burning look hanging on the branches, the leaves were also found outdoor under the trees; the broken pieces of glass were recycled from a coffee jar, it was made by glass and I had broken then into pieces by a hammer; there are also layers of form boards applied as a base for the broken pieces of glass and branches.

When I just started planning for the project, my best friend was still alive, I was thinking about expressing different types of emotions in 3 different shaped boxes, triangle, square and circle. The picture above is a piece of sketch while I was thinking about how to apply and recycle the CDs my friend threw away. I thought to stick them on all the 5 sides in the box to reflect each other's rainbow colour.

In the beginning, my team which didn't end up working together had thought to use square box to express the feeling of loneliness by using clay making a human form, and making a tall box and place the human form in the bottom of the box. We also thought to create a triangle box to express "wisdom" which should not be considered as a kind of human emotions.

After I confirmed which emotion I was going to express, I had an idea that didn't really lead me to anywhere, the sketch above is the idea: I thought of connecting three square boxes into a stair shape to present the stages when facing to death. Each box of the 3 will represent one or two stages. I stopped digging this idea because the stair will make the audience confused rather than understanding it. Besides the most important doing this project is the colour.

Then I started considering more, according to the materials that I have rather than the materials that I think is suitable for the project and needed to be bought. Because the more material involved the more confusion the artwork will lead the audience.

In the sketch, the concept was to present and show "sorrow" and "sadness" through the artwork, instead of thinking about what materials to use, I started thinking about how to apply the materials that I already have. The mineral water box is made by paper which is easy to burn, and a burned look will present the feeling of pain which is what I feel - pain of loss. The burning look also gives the work a fade-away look to present "death". I planned to recycle and look for a glass jar that allows to contain liquid, so I can add blue coloured water into the jar and the branches will have a base to be held in the box. I also planned to hang the CDs randomly on the branches so the entire work could reflect some rainbow colour around when it's under the sunlight.

These 3 images are the process of the practical experiment on the idea I had which was sketched down on my sketchbook. To see how the idea really works in reality. In reality, it loses a lot of light to make the CDs glow rainbow colour as the most of the sides were covered and light couldn't get through.

This is me experimenting on the branches by painting then blue colour to find out how it actually looks in blue colour. Painted branch looks better than its own colour, it also gets to the entire project's theme colour.

But when painting dead leaves into blue colour, it lost its own value - the dead. The reason why I applied dead leaves in my work, it's because dead leaves leads me to death, and it can indicated my best friend's incident. Instead of painting the leaves into blue colour, I decided to burn them randomly to add pain of loss to death.

I have done quite a lot experiments with the CDs, these two images were the experiment on building the CDs into a small box to follow the first idea I had for the project which was a stair shaped installation to express the stages when facing death.

The mineral water box I recycled had a lot of commercial prints on the surface, to help myself build a more professional looking project, I decided to stick white A4 papers on the sides contains brands logos and other printed informations. If I didn't cover those words up, it would be really hard to paint the entire box into blue colour, it needs at least 5-6 layers of paint. After sticking the white papers on, I cut the parts that I wanted to burn so it makes it easy to burn and less to paint. Of course the next after cutting the parts off is to paint the sides into blue colour.

After I was done with painting one side surface of the paper box, I started considering more medium to do the other side of the surface; instead painting the other side, I decided to collect blue prints on magazines and cut them out and stick them on the other side of the box, so they indicate the memory that existed before my best friend's death, they also fade away with burning fire.

Burning process.

I had tried to use a different toned blue colour, instead of dark blue, I applied light blue colour which was a mix with blue paint and a little white colour on a couple of branches I collected.

The process breaking a glass jar into pieces.

Instead of using a glass jar with blue liquid for the base of the branches, I had found a better object to hold on the branches. this pink heart shaped rubber souvenir was a gift I got; this heart shape presents and indicated the love that I had for my best friend, and it is a much more meaningful object than just a glass jar full of blue water. A glass jar with blue liquid may seem a little abstract, and it was hard to collect a jar that's big enough to hold on the branches and fall to one side or another.

I had drilled 6 holes in this object to help the branches find a base.

After placing the heart into the middle of the box, it was hard to see the shape of heart cause parts of the box blocked the visibility for the heart, so I figured applying some form board under the heard shaped object, so it makes it easier to be seen, and also a good base to stick the broken pieces of glass.