The Japanese have a business philosophy that one extraordinary mind would (in most cases) not be as successful as a group of ten ordinary people working together. The Second Life exhibit of the Museum of Arts and Design showed example of the beauty of ordinary and everyday objects coming together to create extraordinary items. What is the relationship between the part and the whole? I believe the answer lies within the question being asked. A part is segment of something. In other words, a part is a lack of completeness to create a whole and the many items at the Second Life exhibit showed creative ways to see new “wholes” for these parts.
The most striking example of the part making the whole was the work by SoYeon Cho and her work titled Self-Portrait. The item is just breathtaking as you see an amazing flower with a light at the center that seems to penetrate you. Upon closer inspection, you first notice the pedals of the flower. An intricate collection of plastic disposable forks makes up huge pedals that make up the white flower. Take another step toward the item and you see an elaborate layout of Q-TIPS arranged in a way to still deceive the eye into thinking it is alive. You can see the beauty in ordinary items here and the title beautifully leads us to think about how this portrays the artists psyche and even our own souls.
Another example of the several parts completing the whole was the work by Jae-Hyo Lee, titled 0121-1110-106062. The item which seemed like a ordinary bench the first five times I had walked by it didn’t seem all too special. But looking at it from a different angle and getting down to eye-level with the item showed each and every nail, painstakingly put into a perfectly charred slab of wood. Each curve and line was carefully made and molded into its space. The transformation also united all the nails with the others and created something all together new and seemingly complete.
The work by Hew Lock titled Golden Horde, showed a mess of items that seemed to be just thrown together. A horror at first with too much gold and silver and should never be seen arranged like that was hiding something. The parts were made up of toys that looked to be abandoned and showed knifes and beads poking out of every crevice and corner. But the items hid a number of ships and transportation items that were holding these dolls and looked like a pirate ship with too much gold. This stirred and reminded me of the imagination that kids have. How they are able to take parts and supposed wholes and just create creative masterpieces. The parts were seen and taken to create a new whole. This was something I had known as a kid, but became lost as I grew older. It is also the creativity I see in kids around me.
In all, I believe that parts of made for the whole. But the whole is user defined and the whole can end up being a part of something greater. The part/whole relationship is also evident all around the world with great monuments build from everyday items and the relationship is also, I believe, the longing of every human seeking some kind of completeness.