I enrolled in this class rather last minute but I’m honestly glad to have done so. During these brief three weeks I have learned more about not only the detrimental impacts that various forms of plastic have on our environment but have also become more aware of my own plastic consumption. From the very first documentary we were assigned to watch I began becoming more conscious of just how much plastic I surround myself with. One of the major shocks throughout the class was finding out that the clothes we wear was in fact made from a type of plastic. I was extremely oblivious to how big our individual carbon footprints in fact are. I believe I have come a long way – from Day 1 Hilina who was drinking bubble tea from a plastic cup with a plastic straw to Day 15 Hilina who has managed to make a timeless artifact for families to pass down from generation to generation.
The day before our brainstorming journal post was due I was wracking my brain trying to come up with an idea of an object that could be both made from plastic and timeless. I was on my bed staring out into space when I spotted a scroll my father had given me when I came to college. It consisted of a prayer to guide and protect me throughout my 4 years here at NYUAD. This scroll served as the inspiration for our final project. The scroll he gave me is something I could never part with so I wanted to recreate something similar but with less of a religious aspect (as not everyone follows the same religion) and rather a focus on a sentimental message.
The final outcome
Our heirloom scroll consists of a message at the top where each family gets to leave some kind sentiments for the generation to follow. The second half of the heirloom scroll is to be filled with the initials of every member of the family in that generation so future generations can keep count of their ancestors. I personally love this idea and wish I had an heirloom scroll of my own that would explain my ancestry.
Each time the scroll is passed onto the next generation the bottom beam can be removed to fuse the next sheet for the following generation. Making this scroll has made me reflect on how we are currently treating our planet. If we do not correct our mistakes fast we may not have a generation to pass this scroll onto.
I really do wish I had more time and access to better equipment to prefect this design. I hope that someday I can come back to this project and realize the actual finished product. I am extremely grateful for all of the lessons I have taken away from this class.
Artistic Statement
https://wp.nyu.edu/abudhabi-plasticfantastic/2021/06/09/hilina-bayew-art…ali-hamad-hilina/
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