'BEFORE I DIE...'

Hello Everyone,

It’s another Tuesday and I’m glad I get the chance to show you something very remarkable I found in the past week. While enjoying my most recent obsession, I came across Candy Chang, a lady whose creativity and imagination intrigued me.

Candy Chang is an artist. Not like any other, but one who systematically explores the usefulness of public space to help make sense of people and communities. Her experiments with interactive public projects have gained recognition around the world, being exhibited in the Venice Biennale, the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, the Centre for the Living Arts and the Southbank Centre.

One of such is the ‘Before I die’ project, created after losing someone very dear. In her words:

“After I lost someone I loved very much, I went through a period of grief and depression, then gratitude for the time we had together, then clarity by contemplating death. This helped me clarify my life, the people I want to be with and the things I want to do. But I struggled to maintain perspective. I wondered if other people felt the same way. So with help from old and new friends, I painted the side of an abandoned house in my neighborhood in New Orleans with chalkboard paint and stenciled it with a grid of the sentence, “Before I die I want to _______.” Anyone walking by could pick up a chalk, reflect on their lives and share their personal aspirations in public space.”

Candy Chang didn’t know what to expect from such experiment, but before the next day, the wall was bursting with so many handwritten responses, some of which amused but consoled her during her toughest times. The wall’s outcome became an inspiration to her, making her understand people in newer perspectives.  It also reminded her that she was not alone as she tried to make sense of her life.

Today, Chang’s little experiment has grown internationally as over 300 Before I die walls have been created in over 20 languages and in over 50 countries, including Kazakhstan, Portugal, Japan, Denmark, Australia, Argentina and South Africa. The Atlantic called it “one of the most creative community projects ever”. 

Did you find some of these responses very amusing? I did too. Also, did they make you reflect on your life, recollecting the hopes, dreams and aspirations you have nurtured through the years. If yes, I believe this is what Candy Chang’s project is aimed at achieving.

For some of us who may have been too caught up in our daily activities, sometimes immersed in life’s robust, exciting and exhilarating events and other times toppled by its painful challenges, Chang's creation may be something worth reflecting upon. Could you Stop for a moment, think about what you absolutely need to do or see done, and if you wish you could anonymously share some of those thoughts here (Comment below).

The aim is to get inspired. Truly, in as much as life can inspire living, death too can help inspire life.








SOURCES:

http://candychang.com/before-i-die-in-nola/

http://candychang.com/about/

Watch Candy Chang on TED talk: 
http://www.ted.com/talks/candy_chang_before_i_die_i_want_to.html