I created this book to document the phases of my life within this society. The phases I have been through in my life are similar to a collection of experi-ences, and collecting ourselves uses the same method as collecting objects as a hobby. As a designer, there was always a time when I felt that while being a part of this society, I should also try to blend in, in order to survive.
However, there is a huge part of me thinking that I shouldn’t head in this direction. The opposite direction is always watching me with a strangeness and unfamiliarity. It makes me wonder if I am just a stranger to society or if I’m a stranger to myself in my own world.
The book starts off with Banano, a banana who has the idea that he could have a bet-ter life, and not just be a banana. The introduction begins with the concept that anyone in this world can make changes in their life, but that it takes the most courage and effort you could possibly imagine. Banano wants a change, but he is not sure where he should go or where he belongs. Banano’s journey begins here.
I often feel each of us have missing pieces in our lives. We are in many places already, yet we seek out even more places to go. Then there is Banano’s story, which tells us a lot about how uncertain we are of ourselves, and how to find a way where we can collect things in order to be content with our lives. We encounter many opportunities that could change our lives if we only pursued them, and this is just what Banano did.
This book demonstrates the flow of possibilities Banano goes through after the escape of being an ordinary banana. The samples of activities shown in the book are the basis of our society. A dream can be simple, and in this way, we are similar. Most of us wish to excel in a certain field, ergo we have the intention of being successful. However, most often we are blinded by what society has led us to believe is good for us. There is a hidden truth behind all things, such as in our dreams or how this society forces us to survive. We will never forget the truth and we will only get better by lying. Banano goes through many metaphors and phases, and we can take this as a kind of humor in life. With everything Banano has done, he is the only performer, and the only audience to himself.
Meanings cross when I project the life we are leading and the fact that we are our own audience in this performance.
Banano tries many activities, from being a sport star to a hero to a model. He wants all the attention in the world because he feels there is nobody like him in the banana world. He wants to stand out among the others (and, oh, how hard he had tried)! Upon the ending of the story, I implicate the idea that we are always too busy to understand ourselves with the excuse that there is never enough time. Up till the end, Banano had discovered something that he had never encountered before: himself.
As often as we rush into the things we want in life, we should first ask ourselves: do we truly want them? What makes us want what we want? Will we be happy if we live our dream and believe there will always be a morning to wake up to? Why do people wish to be in a higher place day after day? Where each building is constructed, the next block will only be taller, and soon there will be an even higher building next to that one. We have walked this path, and yet we are strangers to ourselves. If we never stop discover-ing, perhaps we will never see the ‘stranger’ side of ourselves. We walk each day, and collect what we feel we need to make it to the next day. Right, wrong, true or false, it is completely objective and open to all.
Some of the ideas from the book are deprived from Doctor Hick’s light bulb collection on how we seek ourselves in the things we do as a hobby, or even as a career, it is a process of self-discovery . I was once actually very inspired by the things we often see abandoned in the streets. Objects are left either accidentally or intentionally, and they deserve to be noticed by passersby. I have seen many objects abandoned in the streets.
While some are claimed by their rightful owners, the rest are merely waiting to be substi-tuted. The objects range from keys to shoes to bags, and even include brooms and toys.
Big or small, they all have a story to tell. I believe each one of these stories reflect many dreams, experiences and futures. These abandoned objects somehow give me hopes and dreams because of their uncertainties and the space they leave me for imagination, and this helps me analyze human behavior, which is to leave every possibility to each and every other thing we come across. We search, we encounter and we act upon.
Along the same lines as picking things up that are left by our parents, our ancestors, or strangers, we are also picking up what is in store for us when we discover others. I believe we can all see and feel things differently from what we are taught, because we are a living being and we lived. It is a process that may lead us to truly understand our-selves, and by doing what others do, it will bring our own perspectives into it. I am often lost in the process of seeking myself.
My dreams are substituted and influenced by the enforcement of reality. I had one true belief, and in wherever place I am now or will be going in the future, I will think it’s about the dream I have to fulfill now in order to preserve a package of a new land, which con-sists of problems and happiness still. However it is not a reason not to go for it.