For this weeks assignment on senses and how they interpret objects, I broke the task up into three days. At the beginning and end of each day, I would do the exercise with a new object:
Sunday - Wallet:
1.) Think of:
It makes me think of my grandfather, the person who gave me this wallet. I can imagine the first time I saw it when I opened it as a gift on christmas. More than thinking about the object itself--I think more about my grandfather than anything else. How this wallet seems to coincide with my thoughts of him.
2.) 5 senses:
Touch and smell seem to come to mind first. I remember the first days I used this wallet, and the rich leather smell it had for so many months before it disappeared. The material itself is soothing to touch, but my fingers always make their way towards the engraved logo on its front: IL by LANCETTI. I trace the these letters if I'm out somewhere an unoccupied with anything.
3.) Connections form senses to feelings:
Again, my sensory perception of this object leads back to my grandparents. There house and how it smells. Images of all the little rooms where I'd play as a kid. How that leather smell reminds me of my grandmothers purse or my grandfather's new cars. My experiences with the wallet seem trumped by the feelings connecting me with my family.
***
1.) Think of:
I used stuff old movie tickets into one of the pockets every time I went to see something. It got to the point where the pocket ripped open, so I had to use a pin to keep it all together. The pin is still there. But the movie tickets I clean out every once in awhile. Sometimes I'll see a really old movie and be ashamed that I spent money to see that...
2.) 5 sense:
This second time around, I concentrate more on the appearance of the wallet. There's frays everywhere from how long its been used (8 years?) that I should probably clean up. Other than that, the color seems to be the same. If I hold it up to my ears and move it around, it has a distinct leather rubbing sound. Which also brings out the smell of it.
3.) Connections:
By looking at it for long enough, I think about all the money that's passed through it. Everything thing I've bought, and where that money is now. It's kind of frightening to think about how far these little things you've touched are now so far away--so close to people you'll probably never know or meet. Or maybe the first dollar you ever spent found it's way back to you, and you just have never known.
Monday - Tiki Mask:
1.) Think of:
I've never actually held this object. I take it with me everywhere I'm going to be living for a long period of time. I keep it right by my bed, and tap it three times against whatever it's hanging on. I forget to do it sometimes. Other times I forget it and leave it at home. I'm not a very good example of OCD I guess.
2.) 5 senses:
Sight and touch i feel are prominent with this object--for those are the two ways I usually interact with the object. The polished wood has a very smooth finish, which makes the hand-carved details pop when the fingers reach them. The colors are very calm and earthtone. The facial expression of the mask seems very dreamlike.
3.) Connections:
Since I've connected my interactions with this object to sleeping since I touch it every night before I go to sleep. The abstraction of the face reminds me of surrealism, which I connect in my mind to dreams. Even that process of tapping the mask three times seems like a meditation of sorts--much like I'm calling attention to the fact that I'm about to go to sleep.
***
1.) Think of:
What immediately comes to my mind the second time holding this object is the vacation I got it on. I was on a cruise with my family. My sisters saw a little tourist shopping complex and went off leaving my brother and I to walk around. We found this little side stand selling the tiki masks and we both decided to get one. That has always been my favorite vacation--and I'm grab I always have something to remind me of it before I go to sleep.
2.) Senses:
I start thinking of the senses I felt on the cruise. The mesmerizing quality of sand on a beach. The smell of good food at all the restaurants, and the hunger in anticipation for it. The sound a huge boat makes as it glides across endless miles of water.
3.) Connections:
Memories seem often indescribable--for they are composed of particular combinations of senses that are hard to piece back together. This object reminds me of all the little moments I spend with my family, and how important they are to me.
***
Tuesday - Backpack
1.) Think of:
I got this backpack right at the start of my senior year, and since then, I've used it for almost everything I do. I travel with it constantly. It's carried dozens of different books, folders, art projects, clothes, pencils, pens... thousands of dollars in stuff has passed in and out of this bag.
2.) Senses:
Nearly every patch of fabric on this thing seems worn and faded. It seems to "fit" perfectly on my back as if it's not even there. Zipper sounds always remind me of this backpack, since I've had so many problems with it getting stuck / breaking. The sound is even familiar to me... like the legs of athletic shorts rubbing together.
3.) These sounds remind me of getting up early to go to school--that feeling of preparing for something (not always fun). It reminds me of two summers ago where I spent the majority of time at my friends cabin. I'd rip open the zipper and toss a few things before running outside to jump in my buddies car. I find it odd that just that sound reminds me of that.
***
1.) Think of:
I remember how I actually won this backpack... It was at a raffle for a track team banquet--so there's a lot of memories to track in this little beat-up bag. It would come with me to track meets so I could do school work in between my races. In it's many little pockets would be energy bars and snacks to keep me awake during those long hours of waiting to compete.
2.) Senses:
Smell and taste seem irrelevant at first, but then I remember how I used to pack a lunch for school. There'd be a paper bag with a ham and salami sandwich almost everyday, waiting for me in my backpack. I'd go to unzip it and the smell of the sandwich would punch me in the face, which isn't bad when you're starving during 6th period.
3.) Connections:
Sounds this bag makes reminds me again of track. I'd toss this backpack into my locker every day before practice, and even right now, miles away from that moment, I can vividly hear the sound of this back crashing into the locker. The door closing. The combination lock clicking shut. The anticipation of a long practice of exhausting work.
