childhood

Our childhood makes up a very small portion of our lives, yet it is generally the most magical, interesting and exciting part of life. Childhood is when we experience the world for the first time. Everything seems so new and there is very little to worry about in life. One amazing perk of being a child is how even the simplest of things can provide hours of entertainment. Childhood, despite being a tiny portion of life, is considered the most important stage of life. Who we are as a person and the ways we react to situations are all formed during the earlier stages of life. My assemblage box is titled __childhood__ because it includes many of the joys and memories from my own childhood, while making a statement about maturity and growing up. The box also makes a statement about how society and childhood have changed in recent years. Pokemon was a favorite franchise of many children and still has much of its original popularity. This assemblage includes a Lickitongue, a type of Pokemon, hanging by the cord of a pair of earbuds and being impaled by a dart. The dart represents the death of interest in childish thrills. The cord wrapped around it symbolizes how technology has taken over as a more common form of entertainment. Balloons were, and for the most part still are, a favorite among children. Balloons seem magical in the young eyes of a child. The balloons are tied down by the headphones to show how technology is affecting childhood nowadays. The magical feelings behind something as simple as rubber filled with helium are being overridden by technology. The Mighty Bean hanging in the foam ribbon exemplifies growing out of the immature joys of the past and leaving them hanging up to dry. The Dr. Pepper Chapstick container is shrink-wrapped in plastic and completely unable to open. The fact that the Chapstick can not be opened parallels life in regards to the fact that what is done is done. What has happened in the past is similarly "shrink-wrapped" in the sense that it is impossible to return to. This box addresses many topics in life in regards to childhood. It seems that as we evolve and advance technologically, it takes more and more materialistic posessions to be satisfied. Childhood is just one example of this somewhat universal change. In less than 100 years ago children could, and had to, entertain themselves with much simpler methods. In recent years the idea of a child's toy has turned into overpriced electronics instead of active, stimulating entertainment. This could have a multitude of possible influences among future generations. Despite the unsettling changes among children's entertainment, childhood is still the most important and influential part of anyone's life. Childhood is similar in many ways to the story of the Garden of Eden. Being a child provides the blissful ignorance that Adam and Eve had and, like the story, there is no possible way to go back.