In order to complete this project the artist would simply need a disposable camera, artist tape, a few minutes twice a day and their room. First I would advise putting down "x's" as pictured above on the floor right outside the door of the artist room. The reason being is because we want to make sure we take the photo from the same spot everyday. This project is almost meant to be an experiment, so all variables must be constant except for the inside of the room. Therefore I tried to take the photos at 10 am and then again at 10 pm. So the artist should also pick times that work for them in order to truly execute this project correctly. Although, it's okay if its not possible completely to get it at the exact same time everyday. The duration of this project can really be as long as the artist wants it to be for time purposes mine was roughly 10 days. Yet really for the best results I think this project should be done over a month long period. As far as putting this project together, I think it is important that the morning photo is connected to the corresponding night photo by the photo film. It helps the viewer of the piece to read it. Then where the artist wants to install the piece is up to them, I opted out for a spare mirror I keep in my room. I then chose to place it on my bed because I feel like that part of my room truly reflects the most of my personality.
I came up with the idea for the project because I had recently been diagnosed with Bi-polar. It's a mental disorder that runs pretty strongly through my family so it's one I'm familiar with. I've been extremely fortunate however in the support that I have had, a luxury some don't have in my situation. Yet that doesn't mean that I don't struggle myself to understand exactly whats going on. Sometimes I'm not even sure how to decipher my own feelings. Although after hearing a lecture in my psych class about how rooms reveal personality traits; I began to wonder if maybe the same was true for my bi-polar. I thought that maybe I could record my mania and depression through the lens of my disposable camera simply by snapping a photo of my room. I wanted to see if other also could see the same emotion portrayed or if they saw any at all. Maybe some people only see a mess. At first I thought that if my room was messy I was depressed. I thought it meant I just lacked the care for my own environment due to fatigue or lack of interest. Yet as I paid more attention to myself because I was actively thinking about my room everyday I realized my thinking was wrong. My room isn't always messy it goes through short bursts of cleanliness but it never last cause I am constantly doing things and taking things out and then i get too distracted to put them away. I also realized I attempt to clean my room everyday but I tend to get distracted by a different task. Not being able to focus is a key trade mark of mania. This was a really interesting project for me because it helped me to discover things about myself. I truly believe rooms are reflections of ourselves and they are such personal spaces. I really believe even if the observer doesn't appreciate the work or "doesn't get it", the artist will because they will discover something new about themselves. I think this is one of those projects that is personally done with the artist in mind and not really the audience. Overall I really found this to be a fun project to do because of all the thinking it made me do.
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