BACKGROUND
The age gap between my brother and I spawned years and years of miscommunication. There always seemed to be a barrier between us which led to countless of arguments, all filled with frustration and ended with disappointment. I also found myself failing at the other relationships I had as I felt that I could never fully be me around them. I was someone who stood on the sidelines, a wallflower.
They say that the foundation of a relationship is communication, but what if the relationship wasn't built on communication in the first place?
The lack of companionship and friendship in my life has brought me a lot of confusion. Why was I struggling to maintain relationships when it felt like everyone else has got it all figured out? What is the secret?
In this project, I aim to find out:
What makes a perfect relationship?
The Wallflower, is a self-initiated project that documents my journey unravelling the complexity of relationships.
The misused proverb in this modern society, ‘Blood is Thicker than Water’, refers that family bonds are more important than temporary relationships with friends. It is used to remind each other that their allegiance to the family is all that matters. However, people are not aware that the way we interpret it is not of the original intention.
Originally derived from the phrase, “The Blood of the Covenant is Thicker Than the Water of the Womb”. This implies that blood shed in battle, bonds soldiers more strongly than simple genetics.
To validate this preconceived notion of the misinterpretation used, I seeked out the different types of relationships.
I approached the project by looking into the bond of twins, and later, I looked further into other relationships by having genuine conversations with strangers I met on the streets.
I also found out that the term ‘Twinning’ aptly described the phenomenon I witnessed between couples. Twinning refers to having identical thoughts, personalities or behavior as someone else. The idea of twinning can occur anywhere, between anyone. And as the saying goes, there’s more than meets the eye.
The exploration of the different relationships however shifted the landscape of my project, offering me a new point of view through my research by reinstating the initial question on my mind: What makes a perfect soulmate?
OUTCOME
This project features a series of outcomes from my personal journey, and documents my search for answers through an exploration of looking into genetically and non-genetically manufactured relationships, but later, ended up with my own search for the perfect companion.
SUMMARY
This project investigates different affairs, romantic or not, and highlights the unique binaries and the valleys of incommunicable emotions between them. It aims to establish different perspectives and opinions on genetically and non-genetically manufactured relationships as well as narrate my journey as a wallflower.
This whole journey has given me a deeper insight into the different relationships life has to offer. My original direction for research, the comparison between blood related and non-blood related relationships, slowly faded while my curiosity for finding the key to the perfect relationship grew bigger and bigger. Along the way, I couldn’t help but question the relationships I had in my life and I wanted to know if I too could find my “soulmate”. I tried to imagine life with a perfect companion. Perhaps there really is someone out there who is just like, me. But the more I imagine and try depicting her in my head, the more it made me realise that I was just creating a persona.
This series is targeted to the other wallflowers out there who like me, are standing on the sidelines, it seeks to spread the message of telling the audience not to be affected by how society favours the extroverted personalities, expecting them to be ‘fixed’. At the same time, allows the audience to see the perks of being a wallflower.
The age gap between my brother and I spawned years and years of miscommunication. There always seemed to be a barrier between us which led to countless of arguments, all filled with frustration and ended with disappointment. I also found myself failing at the other relationships I had as I felt that I could never fully be me around them. I was someone who stood on the sidelines, a wallflower.
They say that the foundation of a relationship is communication, but what if the relationship wasn't built on communication in the first place?
The lack of companionship and friendship in my life has brought me a lot of confusion. Why was I struggling to maintain relationships when it felt like everyone else has got it all figured out? What is the secret?
In this project, I aim to find out:
What makes a perfect relationship?
The Wallflower, is a self-initiated project that documents my journey unravelling the complexity of relationships.
The misused proverb in this modern society, ‘Blood is Thicker than Water’, refers that family bonds are more important than temporary relationships with friends. It is used to remind each other that their allegiance to the family is all that matters. However, people are not aware that the way we interpret it is not of the original intention.
Originally derived from the phrase, “The Blood of the Covenant is Thicker Than the Water of the Womb”. This implies that blood shed in battle, bonds soldiers more strongly than simple genetics.
To validate this preconceived notion of the misinterpretation used, I seeked out the different types of relationships.
I approached the project by looking into the bond of twins, and later, I looked further into other relationships by having genuine conversations with strangers I met on the streets.
I also found out that the term ‘Twinning’ aptly described the phenomenon I witnessed between couples. Twinning refers to having identical thoughts, personalities or behavior as someone else. The idea of twinning can occur anywhere, between anyone. And as the saying goes, there’s more than meets the eye.
The exploration of the different relationships however shifted the landscape of my project, offering me a new point of view through my research by reinstating the initial question on my mind: What makes a perfect soulmate?
OUTCOME
This project features a series of outcomes from my personal journey, and documents my search for answers through an exploration of looking into genetically and non-genetically manufactured relationships, but later, ended up with my own search for the perfect companion.
SUMMARY
This project investigates different affairs, romantic or not, and highlights the unique binaries and the valleys of incommunicable emotions between them. It aims to establish different perspectives and opinions on genetically and non-genetically manufactured relationships as well as narrate my journey as a wallflower.
This whole journey has given me a deeper insight into the different relationships life has to offer. My original direction for research, the comparison between blood related and non-blood related relationships, slowly faded while my curiosity for finding the key to the perfect relationship grew bigger and bigger. Along the way, I couldn’t help but question the relationships I had in my life and I wanted to know if I too could find my “soulmate”. I tried to imagine life with a perfect companion. Perhaps there really is someone out there who is just like, me. But the more I imagine and try depicting her in my head, the more it made me realise that I was just creating a persona.
This series is targeted to the other wallflowers out there who like me, are standing on the sidelines, it seeks to spread the message of telling the audience not to be affected by how society favours the extroverted personalities, expecting them to be ‘fixed’. At the same time, allows the audience to see the perks of being a wallflower.
