On the way to class the next day, I saw the other students had done the assignment because on each box was a carefully drawn eyes nose ears, back of the head, and so on as appropriate for each side of the box.
I didn't do the assignment and the ride to school was a bumpy train ride so it was not possible to carefully draw and paint on my empty box to any effect that was other than a sloppy version of what I saw the other students has already completed.
Facing the nightmare of a scolding by my art teacher, I came up with this plan:
Taking my notebook, I wrote down all the thoughts that were in my head. Such as the fact that there were as many versions of the outside of the box as there were students to make them; after all, the assignment was akin to a self portrait. Another "thought" was that if I made a mistake as I drew on the box, I would have to live with that mistake in the outcome of the project. A third was that even though the outcome for each students project was different, the intent to make an accurate self portrait was the same. . .
Right before class began, I unfolded my box and jotted down all my thoughts on the inside surfaces of the box and then reassembled it. Hence, contained within the box were all of my thoughts about the assignment; the outside representation was nothing: or it was all the possibility that my thought could imagine--changeable in an instant. Needless to say, I was pretty impressed with my solution and I woke up in a great mood!
Each vessel I make is like the this box assignment: all are unique and no two are the same. But, unlike a head, what you put inside is up to you. Be it water, a favorite tea, or coffee flavored with intention, I leave them empty so you can decide.
This writing is for the words I cannot put inside them, so I have put them down here. Sweet dreams!
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