A Spark,"Served to ignite the explosive mixture in an internal combustion engine." The 9 lines of the 38th page in my copy of Tim O'Brien's "The Things they Carried" was definitely what sparked the idea behind my summer enrichment. From the very beginning of the book to the end I felt a certain affinity to the distinctly unique stories. As every page passed, I felt a sense of dejavu as if I had already heard such impacting stories. I felt not only dejavu, but I also felt like the stories provided a desperately searched explanation to help me understand a very important person in my life; my father.
Once Upon a Time a year and a half ago, a mother and two children lived in absence of a father for 7 months. However, it wasn't the amount of time that defined this delicate matter but rather the place. Afghanistan.
Until today, it still remains a topic for conversation, an empty yet simultaneously fulfilling place and the home of nostalgia.
While he was there, he found himself fascinated with the plethora of unappreciated factors that ultimately make up a culture. He'd often go to the markets and see the most remarkable things; works of art of all kinds and would buy them to send to us. Along with the extraordinary works of art came and continue to come the many touching stories. It is through this that I get that distinct sense of vicariousness as I read the book, but because of him.
As I read the following 9 lines, I knew that I wanted to try my absolute best to share Tim O'Brien's life changing war story through art, as my dad shared his.
"Forty-three years old, and the war occurred half a life-time ago, and yet the remembering makes it now. And sometimes remembering will lead to a story, which makes it forever. That's what stories are for. Stories are for those late hours in the night when you can't remember how you got from where you were to where you are. Stories are for eternity, when memory is erased, when there is nothing to remember except the story." -Tim O'Brien
By Choosing to demonstrate Tim O'Brien's story through ART, I first aimed at making my best attempt to make some kind of art of all styles, colors and textures for each of the 22 chapters that makes up the book. It was a little after I began this project that I realized a lot of the art that I connected to the story wasn't just my own art but also random things I'd always seen but never really looked at quite carefully. Through the process I found myself continuously searching for inspiration and through this I found many other types of multimedia that I felt perfectly matched to what I grasped from my favorite chapters. I ended up connecting art to my favorite chapters rather than to all 22 of them.
I achieved analyzing and treasuring this book and its many heart-rending stories in a free manner, through an infinite amount of questions, mini-epiphanies and quote circling (my favorite).
Brilliant idea! And it's clear that your connection to the play has been visceral, as has mine.
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