Sunday, October 14, 2007
Passport Use
I started collecting sand from around the world when I was 18 and went away with my boyfriend's family for the first time. I brought back a sample from the Jersey Shore as a keepsake. Little did I know that this incident would start a hobbie and later dub me as an arenophile - a sand collector.
Every where I went for the next decade I brought back sand. 30 states, eight countries and then I started working too much. So I asked my friends going to exotic places through whom I was living vicariously. Never did one person forget. When digital cameras were still in their infancy and film containers were common, they were the perfect container to bring back a sample. When I'd forget to explain how I wanted the samples, I got everything from a full Orangeina bottle from a beach in Europe to a plastic ziplock bag from Germany that I can't believe wasn't confiscated at US customs by mistake.
My hobby turned passionate when I decided to design a piece of art to display the samples. I met two Hungarian twins in Denver. We brainstormed a functional piece of art somewhat like a Shoji screen that held the 40+ glass lenses that contained each sample. I wasn't sure how to identify each sand then, but knew I wanted to interchange them on future occassions.
I finished the design and had a wood working plant in China design the prototype screen that I now have the life size piece in a bedroom. An artist's rendering was also made to show my idea of using this art as a way to bridge disparate cultures and yet to have them all peacefully coexist in one piece of art, unlike the real cultures that are so fragmented in our world today.
I intend for some incredible chain of resorts to want to use this design idea to show their portfolio properties around the world by way of the sand that represents each incredible location. Strangely enough, I have sand from Fenway home plate, Central Park and even a sample from the moon. If I share that one with you, I'll have to kill you.
I laughed when I saw Michael Moore's documentary Sicko where he profiles a mid-to-upper-class couple living in Paris. While touring their home, the wife pointed out the sand collection they started years ago in small containers.
While this seemed like a strange hobby years ago. Now I run into others who appreciate the beauty of sand collection for reasons of geology, travel, art, culture and simple memories. I've called my growing sand collection The Passport Collection (www.passportcollection.com). My real passport has now become two and grows considerably in my quest to see the world.
I'll post a photo of the Collection soon.
Every where I went for the next decade I brought back sand. 30 states, eight countries and then I started working too much. So I asked my friends going to exotic places through whom I was living vicariously. Never did one person forget. When digital cameras were still in their infancy and film containers were common, they were the perfect container to bring back a sample. When I'd forget to explain how I wanted the samples, I got everything from a full Orangeina bottle from a beach in Europe to a plastic ziplock bag from Germany that I can't believe wasn't confiscated at US customs by mistake.
My hobby turned passionate when I decided to design a piece of art to display the samples. I met two Hungarian twins in Denver. We brainstormed a functional piece of art somewhat like a Shoji screen that held the 40+ glass lenses that contained each sample. I wasn't sure how to identify each sand then, but knew I wanted to interchange them on future occassions.
I finished the design and had a wood working plant in China design the prototype screen that I now have the life size piece in a bedroom. An artist's rendering was also made to show my idea of using this art as a way to bridge disparate cultures and yet to have them all peacefully coexist in one piece of art, unlike the real cultures that are so fragmented in our world today.
I intend for some incredible chain of resorts to want to use this design idea to show their portfolio properties around the world by way of the sand that represents each incredible location. Strangely enough, I have sand from Fenway home plate, Central Park and even a sample from the moon. If I share that one with you, I'll have to kill you.
I laughed when I saw Michael Moore's documentary Sicko where he profiles a mid-to-upper-class couple living in Paris. While touring their home, the wife pointed out the sand collection they started years ago in small containers.
While this seemed like a strange hobby years ago. Now I run into others who appreciate the beauty of sand collection for reasons of geology, travel, art, culture and simple memories. I've called my growing sand collection The Passport Collection (www.passportcollection.com). My real passport has now become two and grows considerably in my quest to see the world.
I'll post a photo of the Collection soon.
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