Welcome/Prayer

By taking materials that have already served their utilitarian purpose—items that are typically considered waste and discarded once cut—and giving them a second life, the sculpture embodies a theme of renewal. It literally transforms exhausted, everyday refuse into a gesture of a “Welcome” or a “Prayer.”

It reinforces the idea of finding emotional and visual resonance in overlooked objects, making it a striking example of multidisciplinary upcycling where the history of the materials themselves contributes to the artwork’s quiet, contemplative power.

Background

The story begins in my parents’ apartment with the ordering of a bed frame and a mattress for the mamad room. After a two-week wait, the pieces finally arrived late in the evening on August 4 at 22:20. The next morning, the physical work began. I had to carefully lift the bed frame, which weighed about 35 pounds, to avoid dragging it and scratching the floor. The mattress, however, weighed about 55 pounds and proved too heavy to lift. I had to drag it across the room, but luckily its soft material ensured the floors remained undamaged.

During the assembly process, I needed to cut four zip-ties that were holding the frame’s legs in place so I could securely screw them in. As I cut them, I tossed the discarded zip-ties near the room’s entrance, intending to clean them up once the bed was fully put together. Somewhere during the middle or after the assembly, my father noticed the discarded ties on the floor. He picked them up, gathered them in a specific grip, and proudly held them up to show me—like declaring, “Voilà, a bouquet!”

Inspired by his spontaneous idea, I decided to preserve and execute his artistic vision, which is exactly what is displayed at the post: ‘Me, Father, Art & Stuff‘. Ultimately, a different glass bottle was chosen for the final piece, and the artwork was later isolated from the living room background into a matching backdrop. This provides an impressive contrast that makes the artwork truly stand out—as can be seen in here:

While being created

Focused on dark background

“Voilà, a bouquet!”

How it is all stared – Example of a single zip-tie – Side view:

Instead of creating new items, I decided to show below a showcase of various interesting AI-generated variations of this father inspired moment: