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.

Display - Relection

If I were to do this project again, I would look at other ways of presenting thoughts, perhaps by using the work of other artists as inpiration. I would also experiment more with methods of mark making, perhaps on walls or on booklet-type structures that actually unfold themselves. In the future I will set aside more time for this type of experimentation and try to not be hesitant in trying out new ideas and ways of working.

Display - Critical Appraisal

For this project I made a mind map of my thoughts and ideas for my Image project from the Field Guide. I displayed my mind map in the way in which I think of ideas in my head, which I had to consider as it may be difficult for the viewer to understand the way that I think. I didn't not want to over-complicate the map with overlapping arrows and and unclear path of thought. I think that the end result is quite effective in showing my thoughts in a way that other people can understand whilst also relating it to my Image project by altering the typography. The work is intended to be viewed in a gallery space, to make people take more time to go over the way in which they think and how a small starting point can grow into many possible outcomes.

Display - Final result

This is the final mind map which I made to represent my thoughts and ideas for the Image section of the Field Guide projects.