For my “free media” journal, I chose to engage in work with wire, creating the above photographed scene. I have worked with wire, or used wire in other projects in the past, but I found this process quite meditative. The original idea for this piece was to include multiple chairs and multiple people, speaking to my desire for connection and missing connection with friends and family due to our current experience with COVID-19. However due to my limited amount of wire, or perhaps the amount that was required for each piece to provide the desired structure, I was only able to make these three items. Instead of looking for more wire, or changing the project by adding other media, I chose to lean into the metaphor of this lack of materials. As I was referencing my Hinz (2020) text, I was brought to the idea of limit setting and boundaries which are traditionally thought about in reference to the perceptual component of the ETC.
I choose to lean into this idea of boundary setting and limits referenced above and consider working with wire with adolescents experiencing Obsessive-Compulsive and related disorders. I believe that the structure provided by the wire could be helpful, but it should be cautioned as well as persons experiencing these disorders could lean into the structure too much causing harm or distress. I believe that work with wire can engage kinesthetic (especially depending on the stiffness of the wire), sensory, affective, perceptual, symbolic, and cognitive levels of the ETC. These various levels of engagement could be managed based on the given prompt for the wire project. Wire also does lend itself to building an initial structure to be built upon, so other media could be used in addition to the wire. It should also be considered that wire could be considered a “sharp” or dangerous media so it may not be able to be used in all settings or environments.
References
Hinz, L. D. (2020). Expressive therapies continuum: A framework for using art in therapy. New York, NY: Routledge.
