Altered Book of the Self

So, here we are at the end of the semester, and it is time to talk about the Altered book of the self. As you well know, the ABotS (Altered Book of the Self, I get tired of typing it over and over) is the last assignment of the semester, and is a culmination of all the projects and topics we have covered during our time in class. We were asked to take a book that has distress/hate/disappointment or whatever that has caused us to look at the book in a bad way. My book was a trigonometry textbook that for whatever reason, I have kept for over 10 years. In my long student career at IUPUI, Trig is the only class I have ever received an F in. If it was just a matter of being bad at Math, I'd accept things, and move on. Truth is, the times I have dropped (and the single time I failed), were all my fault. Each time, I made a mistake of judgement that cause me to do terribly in the class. That being said, I have a kind of vendetta against Trig, and I am determined to take it again one day, and pass it. This is the sole reason I kept the textbook, though they have probably switched editions many times by now. Well, now it the time to change things up, and for me, It was time to change this hated book.

First, I glued it shut. The contents were not a concern for me anymore. I clamped it down, and glued it one side at a time.

Next, I had to hollow it out. That took FOREVER (Actually, I total of around 5 hours), cause I need the space in the book to house all the stuff I wanted to put in it. I glued the picture I drew for the "Flavor of Creativity" to the front, cause that is what the book is to me now, a creative endeavor. I took the little man I carved out of soap, that showed how hollow I always seen myself as, and installed the heart I need

I took this new man, and put him in the book. As I see it, I need to have a bit more heart to keep working hard. Not give up, but to keep doing my best to create the best work I can. I glued this into the book, along with an Egg (which represents the start of my journey), and some crayons (A tool we used in class on many occasions). I glued on the inside cover, the blind contour drawing of myself that was created by a fellow student. This drawing I altered to convey some of how I feel, and included it into the book to keep as a reminder as what I see, and thus what I need to keep vigilant to change, or keep the same.

Lastly, I decided to doodle in the book. I thought about the things I did during the bliss assignment, the contents of my coloring book, my love of fire, and other things. Also, I left in an ink pen. The pen is for myself, or others to add to the book. To keep it as a thing that can always change, that can always be creative. This last picture is the finished book.

That is all I have. I hope you have enjoyed this, as I have. It may not seem like it is to grand, but to me, it represents a lot of good lessons learned, and fun time had.