Rich Savidge, Student Work

The Shining fluxus box is meant to provide an experience of eeriness and isolation.

I approached my fluxus box for the Shining by researching color. The Shining has a distinct color pallet throughout the film, and everything Stanley Kubrick did while filming the movie is done for a reason. I wanted to make the box reflect that. 

The Overlook Hotel's carpet pattern that is featured throughout the film is disorienting and bold. I made sure that the entire outside of my box was decorated with that pattern to immediately be disturbing. I wanted people exploring the box to feel uneasy before they even open it. 

Upon opening the box there are six compartments filled with symbolic items from the movie. Blue ribbons representing the twin girls who haunt the Overlook's hallways, a container filled with blood, an Overlook keyring for the dreaded room 237, some snow, a picture frame featuring an old photo from the Overlook's past, and typewriter keys that represent Jack Torrance and his career as a writer.

Lastly, the lid of the box features a mirror with the word "redrum" scrawled across it. The mirror forces the viewer to see only himself, creating the illusion of loneliness. You are alone now, with the box.

The best feature is that the upper layer of the box is removable revealing the iconic hedge maze for which the Overlook was famous. The hedge maze featured at the bottom of the box drives home the feeling of cold and isolation. Jack Torrance's figure is stranded at the center of the maze, covered in freezing snow, as is everything else.