smile!! [yugbam]

exhibit 01

the room is painted like a busy highway. viewers start by entering the exhibit at a upper ledge. from below, a illusionistic horizon of busy roads and bus cars fill the scene. take the stairs down to the highway painted floor to see at the end of the room a giant frame with "journal entry 1" enlarged to be able to read it. a podium of a camera, a jar full of pebbles, and a polariod sit underneath the picture frame. surrounded by the side walls are pictures of the actual highway that bambam took ten years ago.

'940501' the official polaroid is dated.

the biggest photograph on the wall: a picture of graffiti sprayed on the underneath area of the bridge.

'the stranger's art' was also labeled on the polaroid.

-

bambam took in the fresh scenery. for years and years, he was saving every last penny he could earn to finally start his new passion, his lifelong dream: being a photographer.

he isn't the richest in the world, living in the tiniest apartment on his own with barely anyone around the support him, but he worked hard enough to get hands on his dream camera: a polaroid camera.

he doesn't have much, but his camera and photos were truly his most prized possessions.

bambam crossed the road to get to the bridge built on the busiest highway. cars racing, honks echoing, lights shining... it was very noisy, but to bambam, it was music to his ears.

what a sight this is. could the sky be any prettier than it is now? maybe it's just the excitement building up in me to think that today's a perfect day to start taking photos. bambam thought to himself as he took out his camera to find the perfect angle of the scenery.

yes, bambam's life might be a tad bit sad on a surface level. not many friends he has by his side, no one to really talk to, sits alone most of his life, but to him honestly, he's content with himself. he's learned that he doesn't need much friends in order to feel happiness; just him and his ambitious goals to keep him going in life. and at this moment and this time, he's never felt more alive than ever before. something about photography gives him a sense of livelihood. a sense of purpose. even though there really isn't a purpose to his photos, he feels that they'll matter some day in the future.

perhaps the purpose of all of this is to remember the memories, hardships, and life lessons he'll learn now till then. to remember all the beautiful details that occur in his lifespan.

*snap*. it's perfect.

bambam takes in soulful air by the bridge again before heading to school. he arrived here early so that he could have enough time to get to the library and upload today's picture on his blog. he looks down at the cars one last time. he notices something catches his eye by the underground walls of the bridge. something... colorful and... absolutely stunning.

with just a glimpse, bambam immediately runs down a hill that takes you to the level ground of the earth to inspect what he saw. once he reached the tunnel, he just stood there in astonishment.

it was... incredibly stunning.

someone's art. someone's... masterpiece, he might even claim. bambam couldn't believe his eyes.

this is the best work of art i've ever seen.

someone had graffitied a picture of a galaxy on the bridge tunnel walls. the planet and stars were all such unique palettes of colors, something that you usually won't pair together, but it somehow worked so well. the stars were glowing as if they were actually real. an astronaut was floating between all the splashes of shades. every single detail was clearly done on purpose. the more bambam stared at it, the more he felt like he was starting to be sucked in into the drawing and transformed into the endless void of space around him. he felt like he was literally floating with the moon.

bambam always appreciated art, but never to this level of extent before.

"i.. have to take a picture of this." he stumbled around his torso, fidgeting with his camera strap to grab a hold of his camera to take a photo.

he took the nicest angle he could find to capture every essence of the artwork. *snap.*

he looked at the sun rising higher as the polaroid was being printed out. ah... i need to head to school. this distracted me quite a bit. bambam took one more look at the piece before he left. he went up to the wall and pressed his palm against it. smudges of the paint wiped onto his hand. oh my... the painting is fresh. he spun around the area to see if anyone was standing near. he then noticed half empty spray paint bottles laying on the floor. no one was around... he scanned every detail of the wall to see if there was a signature.

none to be found.

bambam sighed and headed back up the bridge to head off to school. damn. i wish i knew who made that. i want to compliment them so badly.

bambam held the half developed polaroid in his hands, delicately holding the photo tightly. he started to get that space dream in his imagination again. i need to meet them. bambam started running faster to get to his school as soon as possible. not because he was becoming late, but he had to post on his blog.

the minute he took footsteps on campus, he ran straight to the lab to type up his blog and upload the photo he had taken. at this point, he didn't care if he was late to class. he needed to upload these now. he typed with his speedy fingers a bunch of brain vomit of how he felt about the artwork.

after finally posting the blog post up on his website, he printed out a copy of today's entry and digged around in his backpack. he picked up a journal labeled 'vol 1: year 19' and glued the copy of the blog entry with the picture he took into the first page.

bambam stood back and smiled in amazement. wow, i'm glad i started this journal. i'm so excited to continue this. i hope i find out who did that painting. he thought to himself as he gathered all his things together to get his ass into class.

-

i fell into a world that wasn't my reality. it was beautiful. it was stunning. words can't even describe how much i felt in the moment. i don't know how one piece of art could do this to me, but i NEED to find who made that. and tell them how much they've inspired me. i'll update if i ever find out.
-bambam, 940501