My first project after coming back from living in the US in 2014. My bedroom.

I had acquired the bluntness of Americans and somehow I was influenced by Japanese culture during my studies, mainly due to the Japanese traditions that I frequently stumbled upon in my constant search of the most minimal and holistically sustainable lifestyle.

Over a period of 6 years in Iowa, I’ve raided antique shops for objects I found beautiful and practical, and when the journey had come to an end, I had to decide what to leave behind and what to take with me. Thankfully it was cheaper to ship my Wrangler than to buy a new or even used vehicle from Kuwait, so I decided to get a 20-foot container and fill it with all of my treasures, from the furniture I made to my blue Mason jar collection. In my room there are two chests, one of them is a real wooden storage chest that has been used by three or four American families until it found its way to the antique shop I happened upon, the other was at my first garage sale where I would be driving and see two rods in the grass holding a sign that says “GARAGE SALE TURN RIGHT”, the chest is actually an American “WWII Explosives Locker”. The Hanging Table that used to hang in a loft in Des Moines, Iowa now hangs in my bedroom in Kuwait.

The room is split in to two sides, the Japanese and the American and everything that wasn’t imported was locally retrofitted, like the circular mirror – that is stucco-ed onto the wall – which used to be a picture frame, the dishdasha-hanger [white robe] which is made of copper gas pipes, the shikibuton [japanese bed] which is has built in power outlets and light switches built, the cupboard which has the middle doors removed to create a library, the IKEA-hack fruit bowls and lastly (my favourite), the scaffolding rope partition which has two (very heavy) sand-cast brass anchors.

I think if I try to mention everything that I appreciate in this room I could end up with repetitive strain injury. Therefore, I will end with a quote I like:

“[John Cage] doesn’t control with his mind. That’s what he wants. Chance is the only way to avoid the control of the rational.” Marcel Duchamp