That evening the community got together for Taiko Drumming practice in anticipation of the upcoming Summer Festival here July 12 & 13. I was allowed to join in but my practice was limited to drumming on an old tire like the very young children in the room. They gave me a chance and made me feel welcome. All day the next day as I came across residents who were at the community center the night before, they were encouraging me to keep practicing, がんばって！
Since my second day here was almost half over and I had yet to get any work done in my studio, I couldn’t stay to watch the end of the game.
What am I creating? Electric Butterflies: The Demise and Disposal of the Electronic Personality. A technological reclamation art installation project combining metals and fibers. Much of both the metals and the fibers will be crocheted with varying pieces of a killed laptop worked with in the piece. The neon butterflies represent the personality, the energy, or the soul that escapes as the computer died. Showing it’s guts asks us to carefully dispose of the electronic body much as we carefully handle our loved ones or even our enemies who have died. In death, our electronics still contain the potential to harm.
