FEATURED+PROJECT--THINKING+OUTSIDE+THE+BOX

 Thinking Outside of the Box

**Literary Artist's Statement:**

In today's society technology tells girls what should interest them, what should be important to them, and what mold they should fit. //Thinking Outside of the Box// and all of its different elements create a representation of this idea and also questions why girls feel pressure to follow what mold technology tells them to fit and why there even is a mold at all.

The title, //Thinking Outside of the Box//, is a representation of what the girl in the box wishes she could do. She wishes she wouldn't have to conform to society and could just be who she wants to be or in other words think outside of the box that society has put her in. The phone in the back left corner of the box represents the technology that plays a role in our daily lives and contribute to societies stereotypes. This is connected by a wire to the small dolls forehead. This shows how technology has a large impact on the way young girls think and the pressure it puts on them to fit into societies mold of an "ideal girl." The lock on the girl's legs represents how the girl is locked into these ideas and is not allowed to do something outside of them. All of the objects around her are a representation of what should be important to her and what she should like. The candles represent age, the heart represents love, the flower and butterflies represent beauty, the baby represents having children, and the fork represent being able to cook and clean. The girl also has another wire attached to her forehead which is connected to a 20 Questions game and next to that is a question mark candle. These symbolize how the girl does not know why she feels that she has to succumb to the expectations society has set for her.

This box connects to // Frankenstein //  by Mary Shelley because Frankenstein's main focus is on the expectations of society. This book also is focused on the expectations of society and what qualities you have to have in order to be accepted. In both the box and //Frankenstein// the main characters, the monster in //Frankenstein// and the girl in the box, are trying to fit in and conform to societies mold. This box also connects to // Paradise Lost. //  In //Paradise Lost// Eve must succumb to the female archetype. She is put second to Adam and has to take care of him. This is true for whats happening with the girl in the box she is also being forced to succumb to the female archetype and therefore is expected to take care of her husband. Both of these works of literature make direct connections to //Thinking Outside of the Box.// I found my objects from places all around my house. As I analyzed them I knew that the doll should be the central object in my box. I built off of that and by using the other objects and created the theme and idea for my box. I used all of the feminine things to put around the girl to show their importance to her then connected her to the technology to show that it was giving her ideas of what should be important to her. Then I connected her to the 20 Questions game to show that she had questions about what was happening to her. This all came together to form the theme, that in today's society girls follow what technology tells them should be important to them even though they don't know exactly why.

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This music has two different melodies playing on top of one another. One is a very tech sounding beat and the other is a slow melody played with string instruments. The beat that is very tech sounding represents the technology that is playing such an influential part in the young girls life. The fast pace represent how the girl can barely keep up with all the new things technology is telling her she must be interested in. The slow string melody represents the girls thoughts on what is happening her. The tune is slightly hopeful and questioning. This represents the girls hope that maybe one day she won't have the pressure to do what technology is telling her she has to do to fit in. It also represents the girls questions about why she has to even follow what the technology is pressuring her to believe in and do.
 * Music Statement for Thinking Outside of the Box: **