heartbeat of america

the dynamic duo, diana and i teamed up to construct an AWESEOME sculpture. it addresses some issues, like identity, war in america, the government, and commercialism. these are issues that every one is faced with and therefore everyone can really appreciate our sculpture.we used many different objects that are symbolic. starting from the outside, the frame is supposed to be like a package, holding everything together, reminiscent of the mass production that we are oh-so-famous for in america.

the inside of the structure is filled with lots of different things, army men, trolls hanging from a little girls bike tire, an umbrella, a car and other things. the whole thing is kinda toying with the nostalgic feel of the old toys, but we used them to also address other issues.

the army men are representing the obvious, and then theres a fish net scooping out the army men, which is us toyin with the notioon that the government treats soldiers as these disposable objects and not human beings with families. its like when you buy a goldfish and you die, you're a bit sad but you can just go run to a pet store and buy another, its not a huge inconvience.

there is also a tire holding up a bunch of trolls. we used this to illustrate the search for identity we all face. the trolls are all different but they are restricted, physically by the yarn tied around them, they aren't 'free' to express themselves, much like how many of us feel during our teen age years.

we all had a time when we have felt suppressed or had something holding us back. whether it was fear of being judged, or loosing friends, or being mocked and scrutinized by others. our trolls are suspended by this fear, just like many of us have. individualism is not something that our society supports, uniqueness is suppressed and regarded as a fault instead of being embraced. we felt as though the trolls show an attempt at becoming a unique individual.

there is a hand holding a nest to represent the nurturing that we all need throughout our lives. this is an ongoing search we all go through. we look for care and love in relationships, family and friends, we search for true love and we search for a higher being. human beings need to feel loved and its an essiential part of life. if we didnt feel loved, there wouldnt be a reason to be alive.
there are many little plastic animals placed around the frame, this is a small and unsubstantial jest at animal cruelty.

my favorite part of the whole thing would have to be the car, with barbie legs, and the stethescope. this was kind of poking fun at the constant need for consumerism in america. the car reads, "heartbeat of america" which i find hysterical.

thats exactly how we treat material goods, without our ipod or our cell phone, our day is RUINED. the media and society place such an importance on these material goods instead of creating an environment that gains happiness from being around those that they love. people make us really happy, not money or material things.

we glued a horse head to the front of the car to symbolize the hood ornament of a ford mustang. we also attached barbie legs to the front mocking the way men think a car gives a certain sex appeal to them. you are who you are, a car wont change that.

there is an umbrella which can symbolize bad luck because it is opened inside, but we used it in a different sense. the opened umbrella inside doesnt serve a purpose for two reasons, one: its broken, and sideways, and secondly, it wouldn't be raining inside. the umbrella is useless but its still there, this is refering to our attempts at being unique through tattoos, piercings, cosemetics, surgery, and clothing, etc. we add these things to alter our appearance and make us 'more unique' but materialism will not solve our insecurities about being unique.

as fugazi once said, "you are not what you own." we can be unique in other ways. the other thing the barbies represent is how we base so much on appearances and barbie is supposed to be the 'ideal body', blonde, blue eyes, tall and skinny. she's like the poster child for the aryan race. its not realistic though. we are all different and apparently if barbie were a real person, she wouldn't be able to walk because she isnt proportionate. its very ironic. another reason we have barbie on display in the car is because the car is refering to america and barbie is sort of an inspiration for eating disorders. barbie is the ideal beauty. we grew up with this tiny beautiful 'role model' and so many girls develop eating disorders becuase they are insecure, and become sick and can potentially die from it, so the stethescope is there.

the final thing in our sculpture is a silvery tube kinda thing leading down to a bunch of colored tissue paper. this is a display of how uniqueness is completely disregarded in our society and because of that, we loose individuality. its supposed to be like our uniqueness is being sucked out of us and disposed of just like sewage.