Week 10 Activity – Art Care Package

In this week’s activity, I have prepared an art care package to send to my relative. The care package is consisted of ephemera, or collectible items that were used and enjoyed for only a short time. I decided to send a care package to her because she is one of the few people I know who enjoys receiving mail, and I wanted to surprise her. Sending someone an art care package can be similar to sending someone a Snapchat in the way that both consist of somewhat random content, since the art care package does not need to contain anything “art-related,” although it can. Whether it’s sending someone an ACP or Snapchat, there is a sender and a recipient. However, the differences between the two are that sending someone an ACP is more personal, and the duration of the time in receiving the package is longer than that of receiving a Snapchat.

Ephemera is quite precious it shows who we are in this world, as we live through the years of life on this Earth. No matter what the item is, whether it is my grandmother’s old photo or an old movie ticket, I find them to have value in my own definition of what is valuable. It may no longer have monetary value, but it is still precious to me, because it is from a relative or a friend. There is a difference between art that is seen by many people, like a painting in the Museum of Modern Art, and art that is seen by few, like the ACP I send to my relative, because the purpose of the painting in the Museum is for everyone to appreciate and admire, but the care package is for that one person or a few people to appreciate and treasure.

The time and effort difference in sending a care package versus a Snapchat does mean something in that it shows that the sender was willing to sacrifice the time to put together a care package of what he or she thinks is special or holds dear to the heart to send to the recipient, and it means that the recipient is also willing to wait for this care package, awaiting for the items in this package, leading up to opening up the person’s story, family history, the culture, and who the sender is. Both Snapchat and care package have its pros and cons – depending on preference. The photo below shows the items in my care package. I plan to send a bag of goldfish snack, two books that I read in my childhood, a journal that I have written in when I was in elementary school, and a drawing of myself that was drawn by an artist in an amusement park.