In and Out of the Box

Woohoo, I got into In and Out of the Box exhibit with The Medium is the Baggage! You can see some process photos here. The acceptance letter started with (paraphrase) "there were so many qualified applicants and unfortunately...", so I figured I didn't get in, but then it said "I am pleased to let you know that the juror selected your work to be included..."! So woohoo!

Here's a shot right before I packed it all up:



This was the statement I sent with the piece:

The Medium is the Baggage examines the reality of product vs. the medium it is packed in by inverting the relationship between the two entities.

Practical or aspirational, the products we purchase often have limited live spans – they break down, wear out or we simply move on to the next new thing; they are, in effect, disposable. In mail-ordering, we have found something that will last generations. With the exception of biodegradable starch foam & paper packing, most packing materials are various forms of plastic that do not biodegrade and recycling is limited. When recycling is available, the materials are recycled into other forms of plastic.

In short, these packing materials are the heirlooms that we leave for future generations. By presenting 20 packing materials in a clamshell box packed in shredded mail-order catalogues, The Medium is the Baggage puts product and packing in their rightful places within the historical context.

Made mostly from repurposed materials that had previously arrived by mail - one Amazon shipping carton, various packing materials and mail-order catalogs. Other materials include recycled paper, repurposed mylar and packing tape.

Now lets work on books for a bit

After finishing the last of those 7"x7" panels, I'm returning to books for a while.

Here's one that I thought would be a fun, quick project, but I sunk 40+ hours into it, most of that time was spent on researching the various packing materials that are commonly found in mail ordered products. I tried contacting materials scientists, I looked on the web, and I called a foam/plastic manufacturer.

Now I know the difference between polyurethane, polyethylene, polystyrene, expanded polyethylene and expanded polystyrene. Phew! I wonder how long that information will keep in my head...as opposed to how long the actual materials will keep, which is basically forever.

The book is made from mostly repurposed materials that had previously arrived to me via mail — an amazon box, various packing materials, mail-order catalogs (indirectly through a neighbor); and then there's also recycled printer paper, mylar rescued from the JWSC trash bin and packing tape.

I wanted to make a sampler box of packing materials. So here I'm putting together the tray.



Here's the completed clamshell box made from the amazon shipping carton. On the left is the index to the samples, and the samples in their little cubbyholes on the right.



The clamshell box will be shipped, packed in shredded mail-order catalogs.

29th & 30th panels

Cosmic Bowling, gouache & acrylic on paper mounted on birch panel, 7" W x 14" H

These are the last of the 7" x 7" panels I got for myself as a 49th birthday present! A year and half later (almost two years), I'm finished! Yay! If I've been consistent, then clicking the tag shut up sit down paint will bring up the whole series. Of course, I've also worked on a few other pieces in between, and if you click the tag painting then you should see those too.

I started these two panels at the same time I started Lichen and Ancient History, and you can see that they started life more or less the same. (Although now that I'm looking, I see that I did not include process photos for Lichen...well, you'll have take my word for it.)



But pretty quickly, I turned it vertical and it became a very different beast, lobster claws and all. Here it is about mid-way:



I really wanted to get this done today, before I head to Seattle for the opening of the Gallery 110 exhibit, so I've been working on it pretty consistently for several days. And of course, the top image is the completed painting. It does not yet have the acrylic on it; I'll do that when I get back. I have several pieces batched up waiting for the acrylic and the edge finishing, all of which I'll do at the same time.

Gallery 110 exhibit, Seattle, June 2011

Here are the four sculptural books I will be showing at the June exhibition at Gallery 110:



Clockwise from top left: Superfoodland!, Tenuous Connections, Random Cruelty and A Dog's Tale.

Exhibition details:

Past Journeys/Present Tense
Gallery 110, Wed-Sat, 12-5pm
Artists' Reception, June 4, Saturday, 5-8pm
110 3rd Ave. S, Seattle, WA 98104

You can read more about the three pillow books on my website following these links: A Dog's Tale, Random Cruelty and Tenuous Connections.

Process photos for Superfoodland! are here: gocco'ing the cards, painting the board, polymerclay utensils and polymerclay blueberries.

Process photos for the pillow books (among other things) are here.