Stencil Graffiti Assignment

These days, everything is always 'go, go go.' Nobody takes the time to just take a break and relax which I think is a concerning problem in our society. Everybody gets so consumed with their work, family, school, and other obligations that sometimes, we forget that it is actually okay to let ourselves enjoy life once in a while. Sometimes we just need to take a day off from reality and learn to appreciate (and not feel guilty about) time spent doing something pleasurable, or even just doing nothing at all. Businessmen, parents, students, and the public in general often get so consumed with their daily lives that they only look towards what is going to happen tomorrow or the next day and forget to live in the present.

That is why I made my stencil a picture of a pair of flip flops with the word "unwind" wrapped around the bottom of them. I think that flip flops generally symbolize the beach which represents a place that people go to unwind and take a break from reality. It is a place where they can go to get away from their hectic lives and put things back in to perspective--that there is more to life than work and bills and our routine craziness. I put the word "unwind" below the image in a very fun, childish font which would hopefully have a greater impact on people than if I were to do it in a typical font that people see everyday in the office or in textbooks.

I live in North Carolina and over the summer we visit the beach quite frequently during the summer. It is a prime vacation spot where people can go to be with their family and friends. To me, flip flops represent kicking your shoes off and enjoying yourself, "unwinding" if you will. If you go to any of the shops on the beach, you will find flip flops on shirts, flip flops on necklaces, flip flops on towels and pretty much on any souvenir you desire. That is why I think people have come to associate them with the beach which represents a place of relaxation. When thinking about a location to graffiti my stencil, I could not come up with only one place. I think that this stencil would need to go everywhere that people would notice it to let them know that it is okay if they take a break once in a while. I would hope that it would reassure them that someone else thinks it is a GOOD thing to relax and be lazy for a little while. I would put it in gyms, in office buildings, grocery stores, airports and basically anywhere that a plethora of people would be able to view it. There will never be a perfect time to take a break, but if we don't take a minute to breath and relax the stress will just keep building up. There are more important things in life than money; so hopefully while people are rushing to work, worrying about the next deadline or pay check, they will see my artwork and stop to think about the people in their lives that love them. As Natalie Goldberg said, "Stress is basically a disconnection from the earth, a forgetting of the breath. Stress is an ignorant state. It believes that everything is an emergency. Nothing is that important. Just lie down."