Month: October 2021

Golden Record Tracklist (10):

1. “Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Opus 67: I. Allegro Con Brio”by Ludwig Van Beethoven, performed by London Philharmonia Orchestra

2. “Sokaku-Reibo (Depicting the Cranes in Their Nest)” arranged by Kinko Kurosawa, Performed by Goro Yamaguchi

3. “Cengunmé (Percussion, Senegal)” by Mahi musicians of Benin by Charles Duvelle

4. “El Cascabel” by Lorenzo Barcelata, performed by Antonio Maciel and Los Aguilillas with Mariachi México de Pepe Villa

5. “The Fairie Round” by Anthony Holborne, performed by Early Music Consort of London

6. “Mariuamangi (Men’s House Song)” by Pranis Pandang and Kumbi of the Nyarua clan

7. “Ketawang: Puspåwårnå (Kinds of Flowers)” performed by Pura Paku Alaman Palace Orchestra

8. “The Magic Flute (Die Zauberflöte), K. 620, Act II: Hell’s Vengeance Boils in My Heart” by Wolfgang Amadeaus Mozart, performed by Bavarian State Opera Orchestra and Chorus

9. “Liu Shui (Flowing Streams)” performed by Kuan P’ing-hu

10. “Melancholy Blues” by Louis Armstrong and his Hot Seven

Transcript

 

In the home of my bag

Is a collection of items

Little pieces of me

Mingled and mixed

Rummaged through and handled

With urgence, sensitivity and relief

 

A set of notebooks and a pen

Humble and quiet at the bottom

Sleeping until I wake them up

To fill empty pages with memories and snippets

Of overheard conversations

 

Satchets of herbal tea

Butterfly pea, lemon, osmanthus, and pear

Tangy aromatic blends of fruit and florals

A hug shaped in my palms

Quenching thirst

And refreshing my senses

 

A wallet

A sanctuary, a treasure trove of my identity

Zipped safe with my cards and coins

Expired coupons

Faded receipts

A lucky charm

And polaroids of the ones dear in my heart

 

Bandaids and painkillers

To give me a pat on the head

A healing hand

To say, “it’s ok” to my clumsy self

To alleviate, soothe, and relieve

For me to spread the calm

Softening the rough edges

Of salted pain and bittered blood

To others in need

 

Hand cream

To wrap my hands

With a blanket of hydration

A mirror, lipbalm, and perfume

To give me a nod,

to say, “you look good”

To envelop me with a honeyed breeze

Of rose and lemon and geranium and mandarin

Fragrant and lingering

 

Packets of tissues and cooling wipes

Conquering the Hong Kong heat

With a multitude of abilities

Unfolding strong sheets of strength

Silent but works just as vigorously

 

Phone and earphones

Two extra limbs on my body

No other words needed

 

And to fight the pandemic and

To keep me safe

Floating and clinging by touch

From the air of invisible threats

An assembled army of surgical masks and hand sanitizer

Of alcohol spray and wipes

Often surrendered and feverishly replenished

Their sacrifices not in vain

An Emoji Story

Process 

For this task, I used an emoji keyboard to type out the emojis. Spacing was key. Instead of plotting the emojis line after line, like a paragraph of text, I made the story visual. As Bolter (2001) stated, “the buttoned style is about writing with images rather than words” (p. 72). The document became a canvas for these images, instead of a page off a word processor. The blank canvas blurred the edges between the medium and the setting. Each space is intentional; they represent a new scene, a new day, a new character introduced, the distance between characters, a change in setting, or the insertion of dialogue or thought.  

I made potato stamps to print the word, “C-L-O-U-D.” I tried my very best to get accurate and clear results with the two copies.  

Process 

I used two potatoes, a toothpick, and a knife to create the stamps. Before carving, I made stencils of my letters on a sheet of paper, because that would help guide the carving. I used a toothpick to poke holes around the stencils and into the potatoes, and then carved by connecting the dots (holes). The stamps themselves would look better too, as there will not be any residue pen marks. 

I used blue paint to stamp the letters onto the paper, but it took many tries to get a clear result. For the second copy, I used a ruler to measure the exact distance between each letter (vertically and horizontally) in the first copy so I could adjust the position of the stamps to match. I thought of this method because I already knew from the first attempt that it is difficult to align the stamps because you cannot see exactly where you are stamping on the page (blocked by the back of the potato). The entire process took about 2.5 hours.