Sunday, April 20, 2008

Depress Shun

I want to focus on the sculpture piece Depress Shun. I no longer want people to spiral down into a depression and to realize there is a way out. The new concept is about avoiding falling into the hole.

I went to Queens Botanical Gardens and saw a bioswelle (not sure this is spelled correctly) and what it is is a large, round piece of grassy land that collects rainwater and stores it. It is a dent in the land. At QBG this collected water is used to flush the toilets in the bathrooms at QBC. QBG's focus is about conservation of water, sun, recycling, etc. Seeing this bioswelle allowed me to realize that the earth has a natural way of conserving water within the land. The ocean is so soothing to me with its dependable waves coming in and going out like our breath. It reminds me to breathe and relax in this stressful place - New York.

Depress Shun, however, is about an unnatural and unhealthy way that human beings have of dealing with stress and problems where we allow ourselves to slide into a hole and hide and it may become deeper and more unhealthy the longer we allow fear and sadness to replace joy.

The focus of Depress "Shun" is avoiding slipping into a depression and knowing it is a danger to go there; it is being aware of the hole and how the ground may be porous and that may help to flush toilets, but not to solve our problems. Avoiding to depress the ground with the weight of our bodies is essential. Even if a person has gained weight and wants to lose some pounds, s/he can still avoid sinking into an unhealthy thought process about this weight gain. We can cause a slope that might cause us to slide in a hole without us even being aware. An enactment of this walking and avoidance of danger may be performed by some mimes and dancers.

The message is to BE AWARE of oneself and the environment and others. I envision a surface to be wide enough to walk upon easily above the hole that is deeper and deeper and may be avoided by many ways...holding onto a rope, a metal fence, walking away from the hole and singing or having joy (symbolically by music)..."Adon Olam" is playing to help avoid the sliding in. Please click on the music videos to hear this beautiful melody even in a gospel format. The meaning in English is basically: "Creator Of the Universe".

Try singing along with the third one! Even though they give you the words phonetically --it goes fast! Have fun with it.

I want people with canes or wheelchairs to be able to participate in this enactment. So, that is important to factor in the construction of the sculpture. Any thoughts? Comments? Please post.

2 comments:

Chris said...

Nancy,

A beautiful commentary, your latest blog entry.

Also, I love the words running just below the header "Depress Shun," they are the best and you could keep them there, I like them a lot and will read them often.

Would love to take part in the sculpture. Good luck with it.

Chris

nancy said...

Chris,

Thanks. I can always depend on you to comment and say something meaningful.

I would love you to take part somehow in the sculpture too.

Nancy