Gift a cube of ice to someone you appreciate
Show your appreciation until the ice melts
Walk away
Intention & Influence
Intention
I remember one night while I was at work, we were making goodie bags for guests at an event that was going to be held. My coworkers complained about having to make them, despised the smell, or didn’t think anything about it except that it’s work. This long process of making 100 goodie bags made me think of the significance of gifts. Why do we give gifts? Does it matter who gives/receives it and what’s in it? Why? If you are told to, is it really a gift? Eventually, I decided that the score would be the essence of what a gift is supposed to mean and feel like, without the actual “gift”. A gift is about the surprise, the genuine feelings behind it, and the meaningfulness of it. With a gift, you are attempting to communicate your appreciation. So, the score ignores what the gift is and focuses on that surprise, that genuine feeling, and how meaningful that gift is that they are just standing there, giving you a melting cube of ice, confessing all their appreciations to you. It’s simple, kind of goofy, and feels like a game, but it’s a warming, no pun intended, way to show someone your genuine appreciation that is filled with surprises, from the ways people interpret “show your appreciation” and how they show affection to how the environment affects them.
Influence
My main inspiration, came from Allan Kaprow’s happening, Fluids. In his happening, he and other people created a structure of ice and then it melts. It was a beautiful piece that to me, demonstrated the passage of time or how even as things get “destroyed” or “messed up”, it can be beautiful. Other inspirations would be the day the class all went outside to play with some simple things Celia, our professor, had laying around as well as the concept of Happenings during the Fluxus movement itself. That day, I just remembered thinking to myself about how everything was too funny, and that I felt like I was back to being a young child. It was the simplicity of things, creating games out of whatever we had, and the bright sky and colors that reminded me of being a kid. Part of this day helped influence my process and end result of the score, with the idea of simplicity, bright, and fun. I also remember reading Happenings in the New York scene. All the movements and words were sudden and random, but were things that you typically see or hear in life. Along with Grapefruit by Yoko Ono, these art pieces made me feel silly, happy, and spontaneous. One score I remember from her book was “Keep laughing: Keep laughing for a week”. It was such a simple and silly score but it instantly made me feel happy and spurred on a want to laugh. It was art that I wasn’t familiar with that seemed so freeing. Usually, when it comes to art pieces, whether it was a drawing or an essay, most of my pieces are a bit solemn and tense. However, these scores and happenings made me want to try something new. Although tears have been spilled from my piece, they weren’t bad tears but tears full of love and emotion—and I love that I was able to achieve that with just a piece of ice and some words.
Process
During the process, I wasn’t sure of anything. When the project was first introduced, I didn’t know what I was going to do. I thought, “I’m not creative enough to come up with something like this”. Grapefruit by Yoko Ono was so intriguing and I didn’t know how I could make something as good. I struggled until the day I made those goodie bags. At first, I was intrigued by the idea that a simple bag and random single items could become one and create something entirely new. Orange cloves, ginger, and a honey bear wouldn’t really make sense on their own, but when you put it in a bag together, tie it up, add a ribbon, and then put it in a mug, it instantly becomes a cute gift to make tea for the holidays. However, I couldn’t fully dissect that idea, nor think of a good score for it. So, then it became about gifts and the idea and reaction behind it. Making scores are… a very difficult process. I went through another week trying to figure out what I wanted to do. I did research and asked the internet about their thoughts on gifts. I asked my coworkers, my family, my friends. Then, even though I was eventually able to get a grasp on the meaning behind gift curation and gift receiving, I didn’t know what exactly about it I wanted to simulate into a score. Did I want to simulate the idea of consumerism behind gifts? That they were trash or a waste of time? Or how gifting was supposed to feel? After an 8 hour shift and failed attempts at creating a score, I thought of Kaprow’s happening, Fluids. This piece was brought up by Celia and my classmate before when we were score pitching, and I don’t know why or how it stood out to me so much, but that was precisely what made me come up with the score that I have now. Ice, or any quick, perishable object would be a perfect example of the “gift”, as the gift is not about the ice cube or the object, but the words and actions that are exchanged from the gifting. That’s how my score came about!
Playtests (Photos/Videos)
For playtests, I had three different tests and it was just to see what it would be like with different sets of people. I wanted this to be able to see the different reactions and what I could’ve missed. The first group was my sister and my mom, the second group was my two roommates who are friends, and the third playtest were my classmates. I definitely got different results which I’m very happy about!
Playtest #1: Sister and Mom
Mom and sister (after crying haha) after the score!
My sister had interpreted “show your appreciation” by telling my mom all the reasons why she appreciated her and the way she shows her love. They got overwhelmed with emotions and my sister cried. It took about 8 minutes for the ice to melt but when I explained my score to them after, they said that it definitely accomplished its job as they both felt the appreciation and genuine love. My sister also pointed out that she had wanted to hug my mom a lot during and after the score.
Playtest #2: Roommates
The recipient and gifter revealing the heart-shaped ice cube.
The recipient and gifter melting the ice together.
Roommate Playtest Video (Click!)
This was such a silly playtest but also so, so cute. The way my roommate interpreted “show your appreciation” was by giving the ice cube to her friend then helping her melt the ice cube. They laughed together a lot and there was physical touch and jokes being said. There wasn’t the talking that my sister and mom exchanged, but my roommates shared a precious, goofy moment as they worked together to melt the ice.
Playtest #3 Classmates
The gifter laughing while performing the score to the recipient!
In this last playtest, she also verbally told her gift recipient her appreciation. I realized how appreciation is conveyed will also depend on the environment! She was most likely embarrassed and thought this was funny, which was not only influenced by the score but also that she was surrounded by a lot of people. So, the appreciation probably didn’t get conveyed as well since there may be some things she probably appreciates about her friend that she didn’t want to share to the whole room as well. He also seemed embarrassed or awkward, but I think that all comes into play when it comes to showing appreciation to someone and giving them a gift. Embarrassment, awkwardness, appreciation, joy.
In the end, I gathered that the score does do what I hoped it would, filling the people playing it out with positive emotions and being able to share a precious moment between two people. What surprised me was the different ways people had interpreted “show your appreciation” and their reactions. Some were laughing, some cried, some were embarrassed! These were all influenced by the way they show their affection and the environment that they are in.
This was such a lovely experiment I had on the affects my score would give and I would love to see other people do it.