Fluxus Box

- May 04, 2019

Fluxus Box

La La Land
Wood molding, Balsa wood, yellow paint, blue paint,
red paint, plastic with a glass film, recorder, yarn, rose,
wax, chapstick containter, cardboard, felt, woodglue, nails, foam
13x3x3

This box is inspired by the film La La Land directed by Damien Chazelle

The box is made from decorative molding with a felt bottom. The shape of the box is a long triangle to mimic a timeline. The box is painted an off white to show that the story being told is not perfect. The imperfections of my box were borrowed ideas from the movie since both of the leads had to learn to deal with these imperfections to find success in life.

Opening the box reveals that the box is looking back at you due to a mirror being placed at the bottom. This was done to represent that a viewer is an object within the box. The movie has characters that everyone has a trait they can relate to and connect with and with the mirror at the bottom, it creates the connections of the viewer being apart of the box. There is an emphasis on the gaze with the mirror allowing the viewer to watch themselves interact with the box.

Hollywood is spelled out on a wall and reflected through the mirror. Hollywood is a place know for where dreams come true. Blue represents hope and the ability for growth to happen, that is why the letters are blue. The originally yellow rose is painted blue. The yellow rose was chosen because yellow represents change but once the blue was added to the yellow the meaning changed. The mixture of colors represents how change is important for opportunities and success. This is a symbol in the movie. Sebastian and Mia created constant change within each other's lives and with that change, it leads to their future goals being met. The dying rose is also a symbol for how not everyone in a persons life is meant to stay forever, just like the rose will not stay there forever.

Yellow in the film represents change, within this box yellow also represents healing in a form of change. A Rubik's cube can be found in its solved form or its many unsolved forms. This Rubik's cube is the same shade of yellow so there is no way of knowing if it is truly solved or not. The more the cube is changed it is unknown to whether it is actually solved or not. This comes from how change has the ability to constantly create new outcomes just like the cube but the outcomes are not always known. Yellow is also seen as healing. Mint Chapstick was chosen because of its ability to heal chapped lips. Healing is an important element to the box because life is not always easy and help is needed just like chapstick heals chapped lips.

La La Land uses red as a manifestation of the dreams the characters are trying to achieve. Red within the box is used as a string the fades into a pure white. This string is wrapped around a tape recorder. The recorder is able to play the instrumental version of, "The Fools Who Dream." This song is the turning point in Mia's career when all of her manifestations are coming into existence. That is why the string goes from red to white. The red is the change of her dreaming her dream and the white is her dream coming true. The red cube is filled with chopped up pieces of wood mainly painted red. There is one yellow and one blue piece within the cube. This hunt is meant to mimic the hunt people have to go on to meet their goals in life. The journey is not always pretty, that is why all the pieces of wood are rough and do not look the same.

Inspration Artist:

Marcel Duchamp
http://www.adamartgallery.org.nz/past-exhibitions/peripheral-relations-marcel-duchamp-and-new-zealand-art-1960-2011/