Andrew Hollingsworth, Student Work

"The size, shape. and color choice of the bed set directly relate to a section of Kafka’s Metamorphosiswhere Gregor looks to the wall to notice a portrait of himself in military uniform. According to the story, it was taken during the time that he had served as a lieutenant and pictured him with “hand on sword, a carefree smile on face, inviting one to respect his uniform and military bearing.”  After reading that section, I sensed the bed to be a sort of single, military bunk, but with a bit more home-like touches. This is noticeable mainly in the color choices between the military green bed sheet and the brown wooden frame surrounding. The box spring, mattress, and pillow are represented in white ink to add to the simplistic military style as well, but while also giving it a sort of blank feeling. This was done to express the idea that we as readers don’t exactly know what happened to Gregor the night that he underwent his transformation. We can only interpret it from the time that he opened his eyes."

"On first glance you may think that the form pictured above is a piece of chewing gum or some sort of an animal brain, but it is fact an interpretation of the insect that Gregor had become after his metamorphosis. Although it appears to have no outer features other than a centralized body, I wanted to create something that appeared to just simply sustain life without expressions of freedom or happiness. The color red was used as a notion of urgency or reaction of immediate attention such as those who laid eyes on the creature for the first time. Kafka seemed to limit the descriptive context of how the insect actually appeared, but rather gave hints to lead the readers to interpret it in many different ways depending on individual perspective."

"Part of the story describes a setting where Grete is moving around things in Gregor’s room, one of the items being a heavy chest. It was after reading that particular scene that I had decided to incorporate a wooden chest to not only express my ideal item, but also to give a sense of harmony in relation to the design of the bed set. The main idea was to create something that could conceal the transformed creature as described in the story."

Andrew's blog link here.