Destruction Project

When the guidelines for the project were first announced, it seemed rather daunting. Something that had to operate on its own for half an hour without my interference. However, the idea of using melting ice soon came to me. The heat destroying the ice wasn't enough for me, so I decided that I would use the dripping water to destroy a drawing of mine, since I spend a lot of time drawing. So I drew a face, put it onto the ground, and hung a bag of ice with one corner cut open over it. I scanned the face before and after, but my computer seems to have corrupted the files. However, there wouldn't have been much to see anyway. The ink didn't run the way I wanted it to, but the dripping water did punch a hole in the paper, which was an interesting surprise. In that sense, the project succeeded, because instead of just seeing what I thought would happen happen, I made a discovery. The project could be interpreted as a comment on aging, that a face will inevitably deteriorate. Or it could be an acceptance of the impermanence of art, since I set out to destroy my drawing. I have heard about some artist, although his name escapes me, who makes art in nature using sand and stones and sticks and the like, and the art is specifically designed to not last, as nature takes it toll. Instead of trying to fight and delay the inevitable, since even the Mona Lisa will someday begone, he embraces it as part of the process. It is a Buddhist concept - that attachment leads to suffering. Only by freeing ourselves from attachment can we achieve nirvana. This wasn't really my the intention, though. I just wanted to see what dripping water would do to the drawing.