Documentation of Magic Boxes, Final Project

This weekend I left my magic boxes as an installation in their intended location on the Huron River bridge on Broadway in Ann Arbor. I was able to take some photos of people investigating these, and would like to include these in with my other documentation images:

I feel there are worlds of discovery here.

Here is the artist statement:
Magic Boxes: a Journey Installation

Artist: Elise Beckman

The notion of magic is vastly overlooked within the rush of modern day life, yet it exists always beneath the surface in subtle and meaningful ways, and can be tapped into simply by seeing the mundane from a different perspective. This interactive installation seeks to bring the sense of magic to life by creating a small, surprising world within the context of the everyday, specifically, in the location of the bridge over the Huron River on Broadway Street, Ann Arbor. It is here where the act of discovery may first take place, on a route where people often walk, jog, and take their dogs amidst their own hectic schedules. Within this routine, the passer-by’s attention may be drawn to one of ten small, ornate, book-like objects placed in inconspicuous niches along the path. Once opened, this box will reveal a tiny bed, a lantern, and a journal, which the viewer may read, and connect with the thoughts and feelings of an tiny, unknown being. The possibility for continued discovery allows the viewer to seek more opportunities to read the journals by following the trail of boxes down to the river. Based on the journeyings of this magical life, the viewer may become aware of a new way of seeing their surroundings, and a sense of the underlying magic may be experienced.

And this is the journey that the journals reveal in succession:

Magic Boxes: a Journey Installation
Artist: Elise Beckman

The Journey:

Today, I discovered the river.
Today, I felt the precious water.
Today, I felt the purest breeze.
Today, I saw the people’s faces.
Today, I touched the smoothest rock.
Today, I heard the trees’ leaves
Today, I heard a child’s laughter
Today, I watched a dog running freely.
Today, I felt the sun’s warmth.
Today, my soul was wholly alive.

Final Plant Project

This is the final iteration of my plant project. I made a few changes so that the plant would not be so stuck inside of the box, but rather be more accessible so I can better take care of it. The same concepts still apply, only this iteration is much more caring towards the plant because it has the freedom to come out of its box sometimes and feel freer.

Here are some pictures:

Henceforth, I Am My Own Good Fortune

Artist: Elise Beckman
Materials: Lucky bamboo plant, pine wood, acrylic, plastic glue, fabric, metal hinges.

The name of this plant, the ‘Lucky Bamboo’, is a hoax concocted by the consumeristic Western world. In truth, the plant is neither ‘lucky’ as related to the practice of Feng Shui nor is it bamboo at all. It is actually a part of the lily family, and native to the rain forests of Africa, not Asia.
For this plant I have built a new housing to reveal its true identity through several stages of transformation. It begins as a transportable wooden box, painted black and worn as if for a gypsy to travel her fortune-telling. The box opens to a dramatic display where a black painted surface and purple fabrics behind surround the plant with a sense of mysticism and the divine. This display seems befitting for a crystal ball, but instead the plant stands alone as its own free entity. The clear drawer below it displays its proud statement: “Henceforth I am my own good fortune”.
With this shift of expectation, a rediscovery of the plant’s true identity may be experienced as a new reverence for its pure life force. The mobility of the plant allows me as its keeper to bring it with me wherever I go, collecting small wonders of nature in its drawer, and offering the opportunity to forge an ongoing relationship with this plant that is based on a respect for the luck it holds simply for what it is— a living being.