For my midterm project, I created five hanging art pieces inspired by the Japanese shakuhachi piece Tsuru no Sugomori (“Nesting of the Cranes”). Each piece represents a different stage in the crane’s life cycle, including arrival, nesting, birth, leaving the parent, and aging. I used different colors, sizes, spacing, and materials to help show the mood and meaning of each section of the song. For example, green cranes represent growth, pink cranes represent youth, and the final black cranes represents aging and the end of life. My goal was to use paper cranes as more than decoration and instead turn the music into a visual story that reflects the movement, emotion, and symbolism of the song.
Art Piece #1: Arrival & Growth
- Green cranes and yellow/white streamers represent the cranes arriving, flying in the sunlight, and beginning their journey of growth and transformation.
Art Piece #2: Nesting
- Two nests with red cranes and eggs represent the cranes searching for a nesting place, building a home, and beginning the next stage of their life cycle
Art Piece #3: Birth
- A larger red parent crane, and a small pink baby crane, and colorful diamond shaped hanging forms represent birth, new life, and the beginning of the parent child connection. The diamond shapes come from one of the first folding steps in making an origami crane, so I used them to symbolize the beginning of the crane making process and the beginning of life.
Art Piece #4: Leaving
- The smaller cranes flying above the larger parent crane represent the young cranes learning to fly, becoming independent, and eventually leaving the parent behind.
Art Piece #5: Aging & The End of Life
- A single black crane hanging beneath bright sunset colors represents aging, the cranes final breath, and the quiet ending of its life cycle.
Link To Art Pieces in Google Drive: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1AhzQRUI4d5GQGLaMvl8qrQvPrR4j1Q7Q?usp=sharing