Fluxus Box

The Lord of the Rings

Found Objects, Foam Board, Gold Spray Paint, Candle Shavings, Black Ink, Metal, Cloth, Thread, Moss, Miniature Lights, Cotton Balls

20" x 8" x 7"

The inspiration for my Fluxus Box comes from The Lord of the Rings trilogy. I began this project by researching the author in depth and discovered that J.R.R. Tolkien was a devout Catholic. I designed the exterior of the box to resemble a simple, gold reliquary in which relics from the movies are stored. When the lid is removed, 5 objects in golden boxes are revealed laying in a sea of green moss.

The object with the lights and shredded cotton balls inside represents Frodo Baggins who is constantly led by light throughout the trilogy. The cotton balls cloud the light which represents his struggle between good and evil.

The object with the candle shavings and candle inside represents Gandalf the Grey transforming into Gandalf the White. The candle shavings with black ink represents the passing and sacrifice of Gandalf the Grey while the carved candle represents the staff of Gandalf the White who defeats evil with the powerful light from his staff.

The object with metal and the letter inside represents Aragorn. The metal signifies his strength as a warrior and a king while the letter is "The Lord's Prayer" in Elvish which represents the naming of Aragorn as the true Lord of the Rings.

The object with the hand sewn ribbon inside represents Samwise Gamgee. There are 4 pieces of wood inside that represents Sam's family of four while the ribbon signifies Sam's courage and bravery throughout the trilogy. According to J.R.R. Tolkien, Samwise Gamgee "is indeed a reflexion of the English soldier, of the privates and batmen I knew in the 1914 war, and recognized as so far superior to myself" (https://johngarth.wordpress.com/2014/02/13/sam-gamgee-and-tolkiens-batmen/). Therefore, the ribbon was modeled after the British War medals that were awarded to the privates and batmen of Tolkien's time.

The object with the interlocking, crocheted rings represents the struggle of Smeagol versus Gollum. Throughout the trilogy, Smeagol shows his split personality with Gollum so I chose to create an object of interlocking rings based off of the symbol of four interlocking rings for split personalities.