Week 4

An Exploration of Family

When I first looked up family I was interested in how many different definitions existed and in how each synonym was at once similar yet different.


The one that stuck out to me was dynasty because it seemed slightly dissimilar from the rest and sparked in my mind many different definitions of the word. For some reason both the imfamous TV show "Duck Dynasty" and the idea of dynasty as a family of sequential rulers such as in a feudal or monarchical system came up for me at the same time.

Although the TV show "Duck Dynasty" is iconic if awful, I decided to delve into a different, far more complex and meaningful dynasty - the Tang Dynasty. I chose this dynasty because of one of my favorite figures in Chinese history - Empress Wu Zetian. Her rule was during the Tang Dynasty, although it is sometimes considered it's own dynasty, the Zhou Dynasty, delineated as the period between "official" dynastic rulers.

The Tang Dynasty lasted from 618-907 and was known for being a golden age in Chinese culture, especially as the height of Chinese poetry. The poets Li Bai and Du Fu hail from this era as well as the famous painters Han Gan, Zhang Xuan, and Zhou Fang. Woodblock printing was also developped at this time.

Buddhism gained in popularity for a period and greater cultural influence was exerted on nearby nations like Japan and Korea than before.

Creating My Own Family

I started with the idea of a family in the year 3020 and how it could possibly differ from today. I always think of climate change, so the idea came to me that perhaps in the future climate change will have gotten so bad that there were almost no plants causing what could be deemed by society as "The Great Collapse." I ran with the idea and drafted a story that formed into a short.

To create the family photo I had to Photoshop in a mom and a dad, which I created through the Face App. The family includes the mom Poppi, her plant Teresa, the dad Leed, his plant Urnis, Ulily, her plant Drew, Brom, and his plant Flora.