Saturday, August 1, 2009

Disintegration project, part 2

Today most people will unveil their disintegration collaboration projects (DisCo) and their links will be listed over at Seth Apter's incredible blog. I'm sure Seth has spent a ton of time getting this project ready for everyone to view, so please stop by and thank him for all he does for the blogging community.

Today's entry focuses on my second DisCo entry. I had enough material left over, I was able to make two of these fun assemblages. Although I like the materials and composition of this one better than yesterday's entry, I prefer the background I used yesterday better.

I began this shadowbox by lining the inside with some paste paper I made last year. Then I added a few sayings I ripped from the book.

I rolled most of the remaining paper from the book (please see yesterday's post for the materials I started with) into bundles and glued them to hold them together. After placing them on the assemblage, I stuffed them with various sticks, pods, and weeds from around the neighborhood. I have some grasses that I want to add to the mix, but photographed the piece before I remembered to add them.

This is the back. I really don't care for it at all. It is made of scraps of various papers. In fact, I hated it so much, I tried to make it more "nature friendly" by painting burnt sienna glaze over the entire piece, which made it even more offensive to my color tastes. However, it was too late to start over, since this paper is wrapped around to the front of the piece.

The completed piece includes an "aged" metal tin, a mint tin wrapped in paper from the book and the rest of the string I used in the project, a couple of magazine images, a quartz rock, and various bundles filled with nature. As a final touch, I wound the wire from the project around and through the assemblage, then sprayed everything with a matte sealer.

Thanks again to Seth for organizing this project and for forcing me to stretch my artistic boundaries. He is a real gem in the blog world.

17 thoughtful remarks:

Halle said...

This one is fantastic too! I love all the natural elemnts you used.

marianne said...

love this one too! not that i agree with you about the back, but i have found that a layer of gesso can really help me with things i'm not crazy about. unless you put it on really thickly the original stuff shows through, but it's nicely softened..... anyway- love both of your pieces, and thanks for stopping by my blog & commenting on mine

Lynn Cohen said...

I like the collection of things in a box affair. The added bits of nature add interest too that fits well with this project. You mentioned my adding color to mine, which I did not. It was all there inside my packet. I only added the paper bag backing as a foundation to put everything else on. If you hang yours on the wall no one will see the back, but it looks fine to me if you don't. ;-)
Thanks for taking the time to come to my blog to see my piece! We can thank Seth for making this possible to meet new artists!

Nikki Lee Anne Ghilain said...

AWESOME!!!! I know...I just shouted...couldn't help it ....tooooo beautiful!

Dianne said...

outstanding! wonderful use of your "aged" materials, and I like the back, guess our color preferences are just different...yesterday's post of your first piece is really great too.
Dianne

notmassproduced said...

way cool - loving this

Mrs Pretzel said...

I love what you did with both projects!! So cool.

Lawendula said...

Simply wonderful! The colors, the sticks, the little packages!
Great job!

BT said...

I said I'd be back! I just love this piece too, especially the string tied bits. The smaller one looks like a wrapped bar of soap. Hang it back to wall and the back will remain forever hidden!

Don Madden said...

I choose this one over the first one, and the back isn't that bad!

nancy neva gagliano said...

the way you've showcased each element within the shadowbox is strong...each piece has its own voice.....as it should. and the aging of the paper/finish helped make that statement. niiiiicccceee.

Anonymous said...

incredibly beautiful!!

Kim Palmer said...

Another fabulous piece you have made!

Mary S. Hunt said...

i think you nailed a wonderful homage to nature...this fabulous

Linda Manning Findley said...

Awesome "E" .... just love everything about it string, papers, colors composition ... Linda F

Anonymous said...

I love this one as much as the first one

~*~Magpie's Nest said...

Both of your special DisCo creations have an air of mystery about them Elizabeth....beckoning....wonderful creations!