For this Bridge we had to create an artifact based on the research we made for our Seminar class. For this, I choose to research Chinatown and the immigrant expansion that took place during the mid-1800’s, 1940’s and today. After brainstorming what I could do to represent this research statement, I came up with the idea of creating hand fans. For this, I researched the necessary materials to do it and the way in which I had to create it. Also, I looked for designs I would like to decorate the fans with and represent the time periods. However, while trying to find the materials, the wood length I needed was really hard to find and the hand fans were more complicated to create than expected.
These are some pictures of the prototype I was creating and how I had to cut the thick wood by hand because I could not find the appropriate one.
Therefore, while brainstorming again I had the idea of creating cookie fortunes and using quotes that would represent or be influenced by the thoughts and emotions the immigrants had after arriving to New York. I would also put them inside decorated boxes that would clearly show a change in time period. To begin with, I had to once more do research on how to make cookie fortunes. Also, I had to brainstorm what materials I would use to make them by own and decorate the boxes with. I used the following materials: felt, fabric glue, a pen, 3 different type of boxes (2 cardboard, 1 metal), yellow plastic paper, yellow and red cartulina, decorative paper and Chinese ink with bamboo stick. The cookie fortunes were made by cutting out circles in the felt and folding them in two different ways. Using the glue, I had to wait 30 minutes until each of them was completely dry. Then, the 2 cardboard boxes were covered in decorative paper and then, chinese words and poems were writtten in Chinese ink and pasted on the sides.
This is a picture of the cookie fortunes in the making.
For the first box, I had to represent the 1800’s therefore the box was covered using simple beige/white texture paper (not very developed like in those times) and a poem and the words “Cookie fortunes” was pasted on the sides in Chinese letters. The poem I found belonged to a Chinese poet named Wang Wei and represented the sorrow of a brother living in a foreign land and thinking of his family in China. This was a great poem to use because it can show the same mixed feelings immigrants could have when arriving here. This is the poem:
王维的《九月九日忆山东兄弟》
独在异乡为异客，
每逢佳节倍思亲。
遥知兄弟登高处，
遍插茱萸少一人。
On The Mountain Holiday Thinking of My Brothers In Shandong
By Wang Wei
All alone in a foreign land,
I am twice as homesick on this day
When brothers carry dogwood up the mountain,
Each of them a branch-and my branch missing.
This is a picture of the box after being covered in the paper.
These are pictures of the Chinese ink and the final box.
For the fortune cookies, I decided that the fortune paper would be made out of simple white paper with texture and be handwritten to make it more special. The thin white paper was then pasted into a yellow cartulina to prevent it from breaking and make it bigger. This paper was used to represent the little technology and advanced there was at those times.
Moreover, the second box, had to represent the 1940’s. For this, I decided to use more colorful and decorative paper (with green and golden leaves) and also add a Chinese words that signifies “destiny.” The box is also in smaller size to show a development in time and skill. It also has a less traditional form than the first box which can also represent the American influence.
In addition, the cookie fortune was made also using the same natural “brown” color of a cookie with felt, but this time the paper inside for the fortune is made out of red cartulina. I choose this color because for the Chinese the color red represents luck, which is something most of them were hoping for at this time period. An exclusion act was placed for immigrants were only a certain amount of them could come into the country, a very hard time for them. Therefore, luck is something they really needed a this time.
Moreover, the last box had to represent todays time period. Therefore, I decided to do something more modern to represent the influence of the American culture, yet, combining it with some Chinese words such as “joy” and “hope” to still keep it Chinese. Using the metal box and sharpies, I did a white and black stripped design all over the box and covered some of the places with shapes of black. This was a very cool and interesting design. Then, I wrote the words using the Chinese ink and pasted them on a golden paper and then into the box. This looked really nice.
This is a picture of the front and back of the box. I also included a white paper mache in the interior to give it a more developed style.
The cookie fortunes were also made with brown felt, however, the paper for the fortunes were made with yellow plastic paper and handwritten. This was made to show a more modern and developed time period, more risk-taker and exciting.
For the quotes inside the cookie fortunes, I went online and I got inspired with some of the ones I found. Some I got directly from pictures in pinterest and others I edited myself. The quotes had to reflect the immigrants thoughts and emotions of living in a foreign land and being exposed to several economical, social and cultural barriers. Each box had 6 cookies inside, therefore there were 18 quotes in total.
These were the quotes I used:
- It could be better, but it’s good enough.
- A part of us remains wherever we have been
- The best things happen unexpectedly
- Life is short and the world is wide
- Do what feels right, not what you should.
- You are going to be okay, but maybe not in the way you planned to be
- Before you can see the light, you have to deal with darkness
- We write our own destiny. We become what we do
- You will bring sunshine into someone’s life
- Things are hard before they are easy
- Soon life will become more interesting
- Financial prosperity is coming your way
- If you are happy, you are successful
- Big journeys begin with simple steps
- Be loyal to your family
- Something wonderful is about to happen to you
- The fortune you seek is in another cookie.
- Good fortune lies ahead
This are the final pictures for my artifact:
Furthermore, for the product catalogue, I went to the UlC to get some help but it wasn’t really good. I had a hard time figuring out how to use it, but at the end, it was worth it. I decided to use orange and a little bit of green colors to represent Chinatown and divided the catalogue into several sections. First I wrote about my research and what I learned about Chinatown in those time periods. Then, I included a overall process of the development of the cookie fortunes and the boxes. More specifically, I wrote on the cookie fortunes themselves and the reasons of why they were made that certain way. At then end, I included a quote from one of the quotes I choose for the fortune cookies and added my final pictures of the artifact.
Overall, I learned several different things from this project. First, I learned to be patient and to understand that not everything is going to work always. Also, I realized that shift is essential in order to understand our surroundings, where individuals come from and how things change with time. With Bridge Project 4, I was able to put myself in a completely different world and learn more about why and how things shift with time. By using the skills I have learned every week in this class I was able to think further and reflect on why we do things and how it can affect us in different ways.