How to make told secrets a secret again? . . .
It was an assignment for an Art-school / Graphic Design / assessment I was attending. To repair a personal broken object, which had to be documented in a self made book, that means all by hand!
I repaired my diary. There is nothing more personal then your personal thoughts written on paper. Many asked me:
- “What is broken about your diary?”
- “My secrets, someone read them. This book no longer guarded my secrets, it became a personal enemy. It’s bleeding all my personal thoughts . . .”
This project was all about the paper, so what Art is familiar with paper? Origami. But I took it to the next level. Through out the journey which I documented, Kirigami was the big key of unlocking the path of secret making of my diary.
I couldn’t think of anything more creative, than the almighty paper-art of Japan.
This is the start of the story, a bleeding book.
Taking an imaginary trip to Japan, which metaphorically shows my research of paper-art on the Internet.
Climbing down the trap of wisdom; learning the Art of Kirigami.
Returning to my homeland; The Netherlands. Another metaphor showing that I’m done with my research.
“Opening my diary, seeing it bleed. Facing it’s wound.“
[ Kirigami Lotus was set on this page. It's a metaphor of showing that the diary was guarding a secretive flower ( my mind ). The flower opens up, it's showing what it kept from the inside. It opens up every time the diary opens ( by me ), but since the lock was forced open by someone else it has no choice than opening his petals for anyone that could read the diary. ]
I was in a very awkward creative mode, and totally love the idea of the Lotus. I deserved a Large Milkshake threat for this one : )
I’m taking a trip back to my past. Re-reading my diary, and stimulating my motivation on how BADLY I want to turn those secrets back to secrets again. You can see this as a metaphor of, brainstorming.
My motive is set. Tearing all the pages and starting over again. I’m going to start the reparation.
My process of the diary. Experimenting with paper.
“Papers flew around and paper lumps started to multiply. “
Making Kirigami. Translating secrets into Kirigami.
My diary is safe again. This time it doesn’t need to be guarded. It’s for everyone to see. Kirigami will remind me of the happening of each day in it!
So what made it secret?
The whole idea of the Kirigami as a key for making secrets was that during my time of re-reading the diary, I took the highlight of each day. I translated the highlight into a portray. A vision which only I remember when seeing it again. That vision was then translated into Kirigami form.
Since a simple portray can have many meanings, the Japanese character was set on each page of each day. It is there to help me remind what meaning the Kirigami had. Although I didn’t had ANY knowledge about the Japanese Characters, I imaged myself being fully learned about Kirigami and the Japanese Characters during my fantasy journey in Japan.( Internet : ) ! )
” But then it’s readable again!?! “
No, try to translate Japanese Characters into words. First you need to go through a list of 1,945 characters to find the matching one of each one I set in my diary. If you have the patients to do that, then the second step won’t be as hard as you finally know one word Japanese which then can simply be translated by Google translate : ).
I hope this project made any sense. I had a hard time explaining friends & family about the story behind the Diary!
Next post will be Photo’s of the hand made book and Kirigami pop ups!
