Box Logic

It was not long after I engaged with Geoffrey Sirc’s article, “Box Logic” that the 35 pages began to be “a box” which held my various contextual items. At first I questioned the sanity of the participants, like we are trained to do so. Could compulsively collecting various odds and ends of “junk” to thematically collect in a shoe box be healthy? Answer: just as healthy as any other compulsion. Arguably Duchamp and Joseph Cornell created a new mode of communication. I myself am a self-confessed pack rat. It is my contention that this can be traced back to the Great Depression in my family. The attachment and meaning of each individual object and then the collective synergy of the items allow the message to go beyond the box.

Not only would a strict written explanation of box logic be good for a composition class, but so would making an actual thematic box. This unto itself is a composition of sorts and different genres of writing could be assigned, as the box evolved, so could the writing. As I read the article I began to add in and explain the context of my understanding: what pen I was using to take notes, what songs were playing on my ipod, where I was in my house, what blanket I was using, random drawings, and zany notes. I liked the idea that the more we interact with something the more likely that we are going to be able to remember it. By placing some of my personal “belongings” into the box of this essay I will be able to make a more full connection with my experience of reading the essay.