Floating Dreams

For this project, my concept was about dreams, and specifically childhood dreams. When you dream as a child, the possibilities are endless of what your mind can think of. Most dreams are of what you want to be when you grow up, of things you want to accomplish or fantastic places you want to go. Looking back as an adult, you realize that most of your childhood dreams not come true and realize some of them were unrealistic. I chose to visualize the act of dreaming as a child. I used balloons to represent these dreams and I photographed a child sleeping in a bed, in the act of dreaming. The balloon strings all intersect at where the dreams are made, typically on the center of a pillow where the head rests. I created these balloons by using saran wrap and packaging tape. They give the balloon shape a look that is opaque and a little mysterious to the wonders of the dreams.

The placement of the balloons is interesting as well. I arranged the balloons mainly above the bed, rising to the ceiling, where they get stuck and maybe never come true. However, there is a lone balloon on the pathway to the window where it will come true, if it gets let out.

I spent about $15 on this environmental project. I bought saran wrap, balloons, yarn, craft glue, and packaging tape. I originally wanted to make the balloon shapes out of yarn that was dipped in craft glue and then wrapped around the balloon to dry. I made 2 balloons like this, but only one of them turned out right. I was under a time crunch and decided to make the balloons out of the saran wrap and packaging tape. I really wanted to use the yarn idea because I liked the way the yarn looked when it dried around the balloon because it reminded me of scribbles a child would make when coloring. However, time was not in my favor and I had to make an executive decision to just make the clear, opaque balloons.

I wanted to fill these balloons with imagery of possible dreams a child has but I had a limited budget and time. I wish I dedicated more time to that because I think it would help the visuals of my project be more successful.

Overall, I am pleased with the way the images turned out. Even thought I was not able to make the balloons out of my first choice of material, I think the saran wrap-look works well. The balloons are fuzzy and unclear and give are personal because the viewer does not know what are inside them. Only the dreamer knows exactly what is inside of the balloon. This concept shows the reality of dreams and life. The world around can make things difficult to achieve but in our minds and imagination, anything is possible.