For my soda can project, I decided to make two serpents that hang together and place them within a tree on east campus. However, before I made this final choice I went through a huge process of trial and error.
When I first started working on the soda can project, I wanted to create fun interesting shapes and explore what the soda can as a material could do. I cut up multiple soda cans in a variety of ways. After some time, I realized that putting them together in order to become a larger object, and have it contain some kind of meaning and importance on campus to get a reaction from students would be a difficult task. I had no idea how I could connect these cans, and for this project I really wanted to aim for a final piece that contains a lot of symbolic representation and allows fascination and imagination for the public mind.
I decided to discard all of the cans that I had been working on and start on a new project. I began to think of objects that hang, and locations on campus from where to hang something from where it could be seen by students. I instantly thought of hanging something from a tree. Then when thinking of what hangs from trees, the first image that came to mind was a bird house. I started creating a bird house out of cans, and then noticed that weight distribution and the material being soda cans and wires would not allow this project to come out the way that I had wanted and intended it too. Therefore, I began to think, and within thinking my mind drifted to what my plans were for the upcoming week.
The only thing that was on my mind was how much work I had for my midterms and that fall break was coming up shortly. At this moment, the idea came to my mind to create a palm tree for my project. I instantly thought that I could place a palm tree in the middle of the common room to give hope for the students of my dorm. The palm tree symbolizes hope in a way that we all have hard weeks with midterms, but vacation is near. I wanted it to help relax people in a time of stress. However, once I got started on the project I realized that the wire was not strong enough to support the cans (for the branches and leaves at the top). I made the trunk and all of the branches and while attaching them at the top all they did was flop close to the trunk or not attach at all. At this moment I had no idea what to do for my project anymore. Then finally, I was sitting in my room and a random piece of wire was on the ground in a coil. It was right then were I got the idea and inspiration for my project. A snake.
I pulled more wire out and started wrapping it into bigger coils and lengthening it. I originally started putting the cans on the wire just as they were but I noticed that it did not give the snake any body and it didn't really look good. Then, I got the idea to smash the cans so that they became flat. This worked out perfectly. At first I only made one snake. I chose it to be black because when I thought of snakes and the location and symbolization on campus I instantly thought of the bible and the serpent. If the snake was going to symbolize the serpent and the meaning of temptation I figured black would be the best choice of color.
After the first class back from vacation, I was inspired to then create a second serpent. I decided this not only to make my project more dramatic and more noticeable, but also to create a balance. This is why I chose the color red. The color red I thought was the opposite, or the counter-balance to black. This would create the meaning of the ancient chinese symbolization of ying and yang, two opposites that balance each other out. I knew that making the black serpent temptation was almost making to harsh a judgement on the students, especially the incoming freshmen. I was judging the fact that every new freshman gives into the new temptations of college. Therefore, I wanted to create the opposing force to mean that there is balance on campus and that everything has two sides.
In conclusion, after multiple attempts at the project I created two serpents. One black to represent temptation, and one red to balance it. I hung it on a tree on east campus which symbolizes a tree of knowledge and essentially what can come from that.
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