My Life in a box

My life in a box

When deciding how to express my life in a box, I struggled. Much of my life can only be expressed through memory so for my Box I emphasised the one place where most of my memories have been made. Living in Cornwall the beach is a main aspect of many cornish peoples lives and has a strong effect on my childhood when growing up and that is what I wanted to show through my box. 

 I used sand and water to create imagery for my audience and allow them to think of any memories that can relate with the beach. On the sand there is a castle to represent many of the typical activities that people can experience whilst at the beach, additionally it was a large part of my childhood to  spend multiple evenings and weekends, allowing my imagination to take control. A bat and ball can also be seen on the sand this represents my sporting background as all my life I have been involved in multiple sports such as Netball, Hockey, Golf and Surfing. Further empathised by the surf board in the "sea".  I decided to place an airplane in my box as it two different symbolic meanings.Traveling has had a huge positive impact on my life and helped form the person I am today. I would also like to travel a lot more if I get the opportunity to in the future. Furthermore My father and boyfriend are both involved in the Royal Airforce so this empathises our relationships and how they are both influential people in my life. To add humour to my box in the top right hand corner i placed a chicken. Chicken is my favourite food and surprising holds a large part in my life so i thought it needed to be included. In the sky there are also serval seagulls these are semiotics as they are a relatable symbol of the beach. As you can see a seagull has grabbed a Pasty from my hand an actual traumatic experience which happened to me as a child which has now created a fear of seagulls. I also expressed this memory by the use of poetry which can be found on the back of my postcard of Cornwall featuring Mevagissey port and Porthcurno beach. It explains how the beach has always had strong associations with my family and how I am proud to be Cornish.

As a class on the 5th of November we presented our boxes to each other. We all placed our boxes open on the table with a piece of paper in front of it so questions about our exhibits could be asked and the answered afterwards.Before presenting my box, I was confident that my main aspects of "my life" would be clear such as the beach elements and my love of my home. The questions allowed me to share more of my life such as where exactly Im from and wether I preferred Brighton or Cornwall. The overall feedback I received was positive and useful as it influenced my possible choices on how I would improve my box so that the questions wouldn't have had to be asked. If I made my box again I would add sound effects of the sea or seagulls to exaggerate my scene and add the tranquility of my home. I would also encourage my audience too touch and move my exhibit. Furthermore it would enhance my ethnography as they would experience aspects of my life by using many different senses, such as sight, hearing and touch. I would further emphasise Foucault and how beaches for example aren't being appreciated as much as they used to be in my childhood.The younger generations are getting more and more involved with technology and are no longer enjoying beaches and the worlds natural beauty than i did for example. This could be evident of how power in society has changed over the last few years. Being endorsed and brought up loving the outside has influenced my life in multiple ways all of which i portrayed through my life in a box.