"Wish You Were Here!" - Reflection

If I were to do this project again I would possibly look at making the final outcome more of a traditional time capsule and try to preserve the culture of today in some way. This could lead to different paths of looking at corruption and negativity in the world, rather than focusing on positive events and places. Also I would try to put more information about myself in the box, in case someone other than me found it so that they could learn about me and how my life currently is.

'Wish You Were Here!" - Critical Appraisal

For the "Wish You Were Here!" project I decided to create a scenario where there is a theoretical apocalypse that leaves the earth with no human inhabitants besides me. I thought about how isolation would affect a person's willingness to survive and decided to try and create a box containing items and advice that would make me happier and fulfil my sense of love and belonging, without having anyone else there. I had to make the contents of the box able to withstand a long time without being replaced, almost as if it were a time capsule. Also I tried to keep the whole feel of the box lighthearted to keep me in high spirits. Apocalyptic art is so often dark, that I decided to make something different. In the end I decided to present the finished piece as a box covered in wrapping paper to keep in with the lighthearted nature and also to make it appear as a gift to myself, as if I were the only person left on Earth I wouldn't be receiving anymore presents. The piece is meant to be an examplar piece that could be presented in a gallery setting or perhaps marketed to make other people think of what they would miss and pack away in case of an emergency. The piece is also allowed to be touched and looked through by the viewer. Also certain items in the box are there to remind the future me of the idea of love and also of the unneccessary materialisation of our society.

Final Items

Advice Book Contents

Recorder Key Chain

This is a small sound recorder which I had recorded the sound of my nephew babbling on, unfortunately the battery has run out. I thought that it would be a convenient way of carrying around another human voice.

I left this deck of cards unopened, because I and a lot of people like the feeling of opening something that is brand new and being the first person to use it.

 

This fashion magazine, although now completely unimportant, could provide some entertainment. Also it could also raise questions on how important consumerism is in the current society.

I included this ring as a symbol of eternal love. Although the person you love may not still be around, love doesn't die. It is only a cheap ring. Ecomonocal value would be irrelevant if money didn't exist in a post-apocalyptic world.

Final Piece

 

What to put in the box

I've been asking myself what to put in this almost "time capsule" box, but I've been finding it difficult to think of things that would make any person happy so I have decided to make an examplar box of objects and advice that I think I would find useful in the event of an apocalypse resulting in my isolation. The most important thing that I could think of putting in the box is photographs of my friends and family, but after that it would be a book of advice.

I looked at some of the work by Noam Toran - Accessories for Lonely Man. His work made me think about the smaller things in life that a person can miss when it is suddenly gone.

 

Chest Hair Curler

Shared Cigarette

As well as the advice book, I thought about things that may be beneficial to mood. People often comfort eat when they are feeling low, but putting in a whole store of food wouldn't be practical so I tried to cut it down. Some foods are proven to make you happier so I searched for foods which release endorphins and found that the foods which could last a while in a box and still release a decent amount of endorphins are chocolate and nuts. using this information I decided to put my favourite chocolate bar (toffee crisp) and cashew nuts in my apocalypse time capsule.

I tried to think of activities to put in the box that would take my mind off feeling lonely or depressed. I looked into activities that can do this and came across a theory of 'Flow Activities' that can engage a person so much that it seems like no time at all has passed when in actuality hours could have passed. Activities like this can include playing games consoles, sports and knitting. Games consoles would be impractical and I don't know how to knit, so I decided to put a deck of cards in the box as it provides several solo games and countless multiplayer games, just in case there were more survivors after the apocalypse.

Film/TV Research

I began to research into the idea of how an apocalypse would affect the landscape and the human race by watching TV series and films based on an apocalypse and life afterwards.

Dead Set
Dead Set is a five part series that was made for Channel 4 based on the idea of a zombie epidemic whilst filming of the programme Big Brother is taking place, leaving the housemates and a couple of other survivors seeking refuge in the Big Brother house. From watching this programme I was struck by how a person has to change to become ruthless and possibly kill others in order to survive. As I wanted to focus on emotions for this project, this series wasn't hugely helpful because it is all set over a two day period which wouldn't give people very long to adjust to a solitary life.
 

28 Days Later
28 Days Later is a film that is also based on the premise of a zombie apocalypse. The survivors are in search of an army-run base that would offer them security. However at one point in the film, the male soldiers attempt to force themselves upon the only two female survivors despite one only being a young teen. This got me thinking about the lengths people would go to to get comfort, fulfil sexual urges or to repopulate the world.

 I Am Legend
I Am Legend is also a film about a zombie apocalypse, however this one mainly focuses on life after the apocalypse. The main point of the film that stuck out for me was the extreme loneliness that the protagonist endures. He relies on his pet dog, old new recordings and imagining that dummies are alive to fulfil his need for social interaction. However, as none of these methods actually give him a person to converse with he finds it very difficult to cope and, after having to kill his dog, attempts to sacrifice himself to the zombies. This started to give me ideas as to the type of things that a person would truly miss if they were isolated and how it would affect them otherwise.

Why I Chose to Focus On Loneliness

I began by thinking about the needs of every human being. Previously I learned about the studies of a man called Maslow and what he thought to be a hierarchy of needs.

I thought that if a person was in near/total isolation, the most basic needs (physiological and safety) would become instinctive. The higher needs however would take more than instinct to put into effect. I decided to focus on the 'Love/Belonging' section, which looks at friendship, family and sexual intimacy. Obviously if there are no other people in the world, achieving any of these three aspects of life is pretty much impossible. However, I thought that if I would in some way keep the person motivated and provoke memories of times when they did feel loved and like they belong, then they would be happier.

It's known that if a person doesn't feel any sort of intimacy, this can lead to depression and anxiety. A person suffering with these can find themselves having little or no interest in activities and in the case of someone who is completely self-reliant, it could mean the difference between surviving and dying, depending on whether they have the will to survive.

'Wish You Were Here!" - Project Brief

The whole group was given the idea of an apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic world and told to make
artwork related to the prospect of a world that has been destroyed in some way. I decided to imagine
that a single person has been left and believe that they are the only surviving human as they have no
contact with anyone else and appear to be the only person in the surrounding area.

I am going to look at the human need for love/belonging. The basic physiological needs e.g. food,
water, breathing, can be very instinctive to fulfil. If a person is hungry, they will find food. However,
if a person is unhappy it can be difficult to get out of that way of thinking and that can affect a
person’s determination to survive. I want to compile a collection of items that have the potential to
uplift and motivate a person who is left behind by the apocalypse. I will look at which aspects of life
make us the happiest and try to capture these in a way that is portable like a ‘bag of happiness’.

By the end of this project I hope to have a collection of items and possibly activities that could be of
use to a person in the post-apocalyptic world. The items would not be for practical survival, but
instead to fulfil a higher need that can put the survivor in the mind set to carry on living and be able to
cope better with extreme isolation.