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When I went to audition for a motorcycle commercial the other day, I was very shocked as what the producer had in mind for the roles.
Five of us went in and we were instructed that every one of us was in our own box. We were supposed to be the office worker, brick pile builder, banker, jogger and dog walker. We are very tired of being kept in this box ; day in and day out we are doing the same thing again and again. Suddenly, we heard the noise. Looking up we saw the motor cycle passing through, and we saw the happy expression of being free in this rider’s countenance. He is not stuck in a box. We were amazed by his freedom he has because he has no bondage of the box. We are all envious of him.
It is a very simple commercial of motorcycle; they wanted to bring forth the sense of feeling of being free without being kept inside the box. Of course, in this instance, they use the motor cycle as a mean to be out and enjoy the happy, free moment of riding it.
It happened not by coincidence, yet I found it quite interesting. During the audition, we have to bring out the expression of frustration for repeating the same thing again and again. Unfortunately, we seemed to be constrained in this box helplessly. Then, after seeing the motorcycle passing through, we seemed to be contagious by his happy mood. At the end, we took on his care free outlook and enjoyed the realm of openness and freedom.
The most intriguing thing is that I have been discussing this “box” both in my Chinese and English blogs. I wish to bring out the ways of getting out the box for readers. Unexpectedly, the theme of this commercial is concurrent with my desire.
Finishing writing the article about “Narrow house”, I started to realize that our thought have been restricted in this narrow box. After visiting “Narrow house” in Beijing 798 art, we also went to see Erwin Wurm’s another art displays. I did not quite understand his works at that time. I checked the photos again, I finally saw the box.
Just as the pictures show in the following; the square upright box has been dressed with brand name shirts. The artist reminds us that we all have these boxes in our thought which limit us greatly. No matter what we wear, they are hidden inside of our cloth. They can be overlooked easily without our alertness. Suddenly, I realize that the artist,Wurm, is trying to show us a way of getting out of box for our thought.
The square box is dressed in fashionable clothes.
Does it look like human being with legs?
Indeed, it is but we do not see the head. Actually the head (mind) is hidden in the box.
If you still do not see the box, take a look after the cloth has been stripped away.
Now, we know that Erwin Wurm is helping us to get out of the box mentally; the very first step being to make us aware of its’ existence.
I am not the only one who loves the concept of Wurm’s art work. “He is mentioned in the Red Hot Chili Peppers music video can’t stop, in which a sign states that his art was an inspiration for the video. In a recent i Tunes interview Flea is quoted as saying Wurm’s picture of a man with a pencil in his nose was a significant influence on the video .”(Reference)
Wurm said he had always wanted to be an artist. To him it represented intellectualism and a spiritual life, things lacking in the narrow-minded world of his parents and their relatives, who were all clerks, businessmen, and engineers and the like.
Looking at the photo below, which was displayed from the unknown location, it seems that Wurm is trying to warn us to get out of the box in time before the crisis comes. A lot of his artistic works suggest that there is reason to get out of our comfort zone, our box.
Reference: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: Erwin Wurm
