Junk & Washington: A Collective Narrative
Junk & Washington is part of a collective narrative which i documented religiously every hour for my recent trip to Washington DC. Prior to creating this work, I was fumbling between my thoughts on the best possible way to create a tangible form of collective narrative with each passing time. I am interested in toying with the idea of ephemera, repurposing unwanted junk and recreate it into something meaningful for me. I decided to use each of these element that I held onto during the trip and decided to document it with the surroundings.
My five hour journey on the bus was nothing short but tiring. The bus departed at 8am and we only arrived at 1pm. During the journey, I prepared a stash of junk food that would keep myself awake while I did my work on my laptop. Listening to music was really helpful as the bus was filled with symphony of snores from tired travelers. The view from outside was beautiful, I've always loved road trips as the surroundings change and every time there is always something new to see.
Upon reaching DC, I was fascinated by how clean the city was. I manage to visit the toilet and saw a Scotch Brite wrapper, It was apt for the documentation and took a piece of it as part of my ephemera. I went on to countless walking in the city and was mesmerised by the well designed buildings, and still, the cleanliness. It reminded me of my country, Singapore. Less the imposed fines and laws.
I then visited the natural art historic museum. It was amazing to see how beautiful nature is in close proximity, and not alive. Learning different aspects of nature made me well-informed. I was struck by the colour hues found in the museum, it was as though there was a reoccurring theme which I do believe was unintentional.
I moved on to the National Air & Space museum where I was stoked at the amount of historic aircrafts on display. I have always been interested at the technology of taking flight using materials that are heavier than a feather and it amazes me how humans manage to make flying into reality from first using raw materials to the now advance technology. These gawking over my fascination with aviation however made me hungry and I kept feeding myself with a croissant that I kept.
Hours felt like minutes and it was night fall. Museums were about to close and I was exhausted beyond believe. Luckily for me, I found a a bike-sharing bicycle and decided to cycle my way through the city and to my AirBnB. The juxtaposition of the city during the day and night is still etched in my mind. The city is just so clean, unlike New York.
