Shadow Box Precipitates Weekend Off

The same weekend as my voyage to Chicago, I was supposed to be working on a shadow box for studio based on the work of Jospeh Cornell (think 1940s-1960s). Cornell used events in his life, most often relating to theater, to create representations of the world in which he lived. His interactive boxes, often employing metaphorical meanings, made use of water, mirrors, sand, simplicity, detail, and color to relay Cornell's ideas to his public. All the pieces, made entirely at his home, were part of the life he created during some of the more difficult times in America's history (many of his earlier pieces were created right after the start of the Great Depression). But our job was to create, from a literary excerpt from a classmate, a response metaphor and later a shadow box based on the Cornellian style. And let me say, I received the worst possible excerpt possible. By Robert Frost. I hate Robert Frost. Hate him. If I wanted to write like Robert Frost, I could do so without much effort:

My name is Robert Frost and I love the trees and the earth. In fact, I came upon a golden wood last night and found that the two roads diverged and I went left and fell off a cliff and died a violent death and the world rejoiced.

So that's not how he would really write, but that's a summary of my sentiments on Robert Frost. My real excerpt was:

"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and sorry I could not travel both."

The metaphor I made up was:

"To take every path is read every book on the shelf of life."

Basically, one can attempt to take every path, can try to internalize everything they learn, but it is entirely impossible. Based upon our upbringing and education, we inevitably develop points of view and our outlook on life. We cannot take every path, but figure who we are based upon what we learn along the way. We should not desire to take every path, but to lead the best possible life in the time we have in the areas that we are knowledgeable in.

Anyways, using a parti (basic architectural form/shapes of a composition or design) I made the following shadow box:


The piece is meant to be overwhelming-all the different colored pieces represent different paths in life. It its impossible to internalize each and every path because there is so much going on within the box. The pendulum represents the passing of time and the possible changing of values or paths in life with age. All the shapes come from the parti.



This, one of two points of view into the box from the side, shows a cowboy wielding a gun (representing war) and a cross (representing Christianity).



The other point of view visually represented above, contains a gorilla (representing evolution, the contrasting view of Christianity) and a peace sign (the opposing view of war).

All of the different representations furthered the understanding of different paths in life, or different views one may hold based upon what they have experienced in their life.

After all this intense thought, all the architecture students were released for the weekend without another project! Yay! But I am sure one will follow on Monday...