The book.

May I start by saying the altered book is a neat idea... and it would have been much nicer had this been a full 16-week semester.
Six weeks just wasn't enough time. Not when I've got other classes and a job to keep up with as well.

As it is... I ran out of time.
I didn't get to do what I wanted with the book and even with my compromises, I had to make more compromises.


Ultimately, I tore the pages out of the book and turned the covers into a simple little box, which I spray painted white. To me, the cover, the outside, that shouldn't be important. Not the most important. I don't want people to know what to expect of me when they see me, so a blank slate seemed a good place to start.

The plan was to burn the ashes of the book. However, the pages weren't regular paper and I didn't have the resources (or the time) to spend getting all those pages down to ashes. So instead, I went out and hunted for some dark, fine glitter that didn't cost an arm and a leg. I finally found some and used that to symbolize the ashes. The pages were the inside of the book. I hate some things about myself and many of things are on the inside. Burning them symbolizes my overcoming these perceived shortcomings. I put a orange paper crane in there, as a nod to the Phoenix who is reborn from the ashes.

There's half an egg shell in there to symbolize the Egg and the Eye.

I doodled on the side of the inner box for Polly Wolly Doodle All the Day.

There's an arrow with Z's on it under the egg for Sleep on It.

The paper crane Phoenix is me, for Who Are You and Why Are You Here?.

Some of the ashes I did manage to create from pages were sprinkled on top, for the 50 What Ifs...?.

There's a bit of the paper from the book with the word "Rule" on it, being gripped and broken by a crawdad claw (I collect and create jewelry from strange things).

I took another page from the book with an image graphic on it and made it look like an iPod with sound waves across the screen for Taste the Second of a Sound.

I found another page with the word "Absolute" on it and wrote "Failure" under that. I placed it under the Phoenix, for the FEAR assignment.

And for Bliss.... a video game controller cut from another page.



I wanted to do a lot of different things with the book... But for the sake of money and time, I couldn't. For these reasons, I'm not happy with how the book came out. But I know what limits to push and this wasn't one of them.
For this reason, I feel good about the result of this assignment.


On the notes of an "altar" to the self, I was and still am uncomfortable with the idea of describing it as such. It's against my religious views and my personal beliefs to hold myself in any high regard that would merit an "altar". I understand it was a clever play on words, but I felt it necessary to voice my discomforts.

• What is your opinion of combining technology and the human body as she did in the video?

I thought it was really neat. Wonderful imagination. Not quite my cup of tea, but I can appreciate it.

• What is your opinion of combining a media arts and science project with your own body?

I would never do that with my own body. I don't like my body and I don't like my self and that's probably not ever going to change. I like when people like my art and my creativity, but I want them to focus on that--not on who or what I am.