I am in the process of creating a piece for my (IB, not iGCSE) art exam. One group of pieces is based around Native American design and tribal masks from indeginous tribes in oceania and polynesia. I am making them out of trash. One piece will be based around the Mother Earth and Father Sky tale from Native American folklore. I have already begun making the sculpture component for this piece. The sculpture will be a flute (being Mother Earth) and a trumpet (being Father sky) painted with designs based on a navajo rug depicting Mother Earth and Father Sky (the rug is being kept in the Denver Art Museum if you are living in Denver(I don't live in Denver, and I saw it in a book).
The flute and the trumpet are reallly old and were in the back room of the art room (they are tere because they are used for still life practice, but they have retired from this job 2 years ago) for at least 6 years. It was a pity that they were rotting and not being used so I have taken them (along with a large variety of other instruments including a saxophone, 3 guitars, a djembe, a trombone and 2 clarinets) and restored them. So far, I've only just polished up the flute and 'defined' it's petina. I needed to get rid of a lot of the rust so that I could paint it but left just enough so it looks old. I'm in the process of cleaning up the trumpet.
For our exam, we're supposed to host an exhibition. I'm planning on make a lot of hidden things. My art teacher knows about the existance of the trumpet and the flute, but I'm keeping the story secret. There will be a QR code on one of my other pieces (a comic). If the QR code is scanned, it will lead to this story. The story will be presented in the format of a flash comic. Kind of like a graphic novel. The writing will not be simplified to suit a comic, it will be just like how it would be like if it were a novel.
What do I need you to do?
- Help me. I've no idea what to do. Like, give me ideas for scenes and stuff. Here's what I got worked out so far:
It will be told in 1st person, in the view of the mother and father's child. The child is an adult and the gender is not clear. He does not appear in the story. The story will not include his/her birth or childhood or anything.
He/she is recounting what his/her mother told him/her about his/her parents relationship before they got married
The parents are humans
Okay, I'm getting sick of writing 'he/she' so I'll just refer to him/her as an it now
The story focuses on it's mother.
May be set in the 1920s or some magical time in prehistory. Sort of like Adam and Eve and stuff. So it's either 1920s or naked in some strange utopic world
I want to use parts of the flute and trumpet to describe them or musical terms
I want to include this phrase (describing the mother) 'This was before she was silver or engulfed by her rich petina' (which refers to how the flute looks)
They will have tattoos similar to the designs on the rug and instruments, but they are supposed to be natural and stuff. Like, they were born with that on their skin.
It starts when they meet
The parents won't have speech bubbles. They'll be in dialogue in the text.
No drama, nothing bad happens. It's sort of pastoral. Loads of pastoral imagery. Everything is perfect
There are no other characters aside from the parents.
I want it to be adorabibble.
This sort of represents the idea of creationalism but I don't actually believe in it.
I do not want it to be in any way similar to a chick flick.
Here's some song thing that I feel describes what I want their relationship to be like perfectly.
We say
Nahasdzaan Shima:
Earth, My Mother
We are made from her.
Even though she takes us daily,
We will become part of her again.
For we ARE her.
The Earth is Our Mother.
The Sky is Our Father.
Just as a man gives his wife beautiful things to wear,
So Our Father Sky does the same.
He sends rain down of Mother Earth,
And because of the rain the plants grow,
And flowers appear of many different colors.
She in turn provides food for him.
He dresses
her as a man would dress his woman.
He moves clouds and male rain.
He moves dark mists and female rain.
Dark mists cloak the ground,
And plants grow with many colored blossoms.
The plants
with colored blossoms are her dress.
It wears out. Yes, the earth's cover wears out.
The plants ripen and fade away in the fall.
Then in the spring when the rains come again,
Mother Earth once again puts on her finery.
The plants are restored again in beauty.
This is what the stories of the Elders say.
(in Between
Sacred Mountains by George Blueeyes [1982:18-19])
By the way. I am not American, neither have I been to America. I am Chinese and am just interested in tribal design from other countries.
