1000 Cranes is inspired by an ancient Japanese legend: if a group of 1000 origami cranes (known in Japanese as senbazuru) are hung in one’s home it will act as a powerful and benevolent charm and bring good luck. The senbazuru legend found new and poignant relevance to the Japanese people through the actions of a young girl tragically affected by the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945. Sadako Sasaki was exposed to dangerous levels of radiation from the bombing and by age 12 had developed leukaemia. After months in hospital, Sadako-san was inspired by the legend to begin the intricate process of folding 1000 origami cranes.

MailboX is built to inspire individuals to be more positively connected by verbal and written conversation as social media has made us into antisocial beings due to the abundance of communication platforms. MailboX uses the traditional shape of a post box with an illuminated with a LED façade to recreate messages into entertaining interactions. For this iteration we have chosen to use Emojis, as they are a modern rebirth of Hieroglyphics – an early form of written communication - and create a contrast between the traditional post box and letter shape that allow the viewer to question the importance of written communication and how we are slowly losing that capability. A participant can send a digital message to the mailbox of their experiences while at the Vivid festival. Through audio analysis the Mailbox will also respond to the excitement and volume generated around the MailboX visualising the conversation generated from vivid.