Thursday 15 April 2010

Erosion Bundle 1



Erosion Bundle Project phase 1 ends today!   Time to open up the parcels that have been exposed to the weather conditions and other natural influences (including, in my case, hens) since 1st January this year.
The bundle on display here is the one that was hanging in the greengage tree.   Sadly, for them, I had to displace a family of earwigs who had probably thought that they had found a particularly aesthetic des. res.   No doubt they'd been having their friends round to impress them with the exotic tealeaves, Indian silk wall hangings, incense sticks, portraits of Queen Elizabeth II, rare spices and delicate lace.
Well, I just hope the friends were more impressed than I was with the revealed contents of the bundle.   I obviously haven't got the hang of what to put in them to get the best results.   Not much transferred itself to other items in the parcel, lots of the dyes were obviously 'fast' and quite a lot of the stuff came out looking much as it went in!


This is a page from the 1958 Rent Book of Mr. and Mrs. Pearson, who were paying £3 13shillings and 4d a week, due on the 24th day of each month, for their house at 22 Byron Road.   I do quite like this, although, of course, just about all the stamps came unglued and are now loose.   The old fountain-pen handwriting is nicely faded and the lines have vanished from the page - all good.

Here's a scrunched-up stamp ....

and a feeble looking price-tag ...
and a snippet of silk which has taken a tiny portion of dye from the things around it ...
and a dirty bit of calico .....
and a spooky green face from a transfer-printed photograph from the 1920s - that one really gave me a shock, as I'd forgotten I'd put it in there.

Since the idea of the bundle is that some kind of artwork or crafted items are made from the eroded, weatherbeaten contents, I felt I'd rather short-changed myself with my choice of items.   So, to try and inject a bit of 'oh things aren't that bad, you can surely use your imagination to make the best of it', I decided to have a play with a digital programme to distort some of the images with the idea of maybe printing the resulting patterns on to fabric.   Oh heck, that's cheating!  It was fun to do though and perhaps I'll have a play with it as a separate little challenge.
Anyway, this is just one of two bundles:  the other one was buried in the compost heap and perhaps has more potential.   I'll disclose the contents of the buried bundle tomorrow (when I have dislodged the wildlife) and you can tell me what you think.






16 comments:

BadPenny said...

that little ghostly face is saying something like ...let me out. I have a ghostly cat image in mine but best ae the leaves & the mould spots.

You have some great results here.

Anonymous said...

Perhaps this bundle was a slightly limited success but I think there are some really nice elements - I love the rent book page and the green face, which is ever-so-slightly spooky. I'm sure that, as an experiment, it was worth it. I don't know if it's cheating or not but I do love your digitally-enhanced photo. It looks like you placed the objects in a slight depression in the garden and left them for a few days until it rained and formed a puddle, then it froze overnight and you snapped your piccie just as the sun was beginning to melt the ice the following morning. Well, they do say that every picture tells a story ............... ok, maybe I have too much time on my hands!
Good luck with the other bundle. I can't wait to see it - I'm expecting great things from rotting compost.
Anne

gerfiles said...

Hm, this has been interesting, and I´m looking forward to part 2... (my back itches a bit, though, because of the wildlife - usually fairly tolerant towards most of its members, earwigs give me the creeps...)

Deborah said...

Even if you didn't get the results you were expecting, your objects are interesting! I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with them and what you uncover with the other bundle.

Nina Lise@Mrs Moen said...

I love the variety of stuff you have included in your bundle. Looking forward to the second one and to see what you'll make from them.

AeFondKis said...

Wow Chrissie I can't wait to see what the compost pile reveals, ..... the shroud of
Percy Thrower???? You are such a great girl. I love reading your exploits and the hens too of course. The Metamorphisis of Art...fascinating
the only constant is change!
Linda x

Lynda Howells said...

love this ideaqxlynda
http://chopcolatelifeandjazz.blogspot.com

Lucky Dip Lisa said...

I had only small changes with mine too! I expected a little more drama but alas it was more like a slow dance! lol.
You got a fantastic result with the face and I like the silk too. Have fun creating with them!

Mrs Pretzel said...

love the ghostie face, and all the other goodies!! I think your bundle did really well!!

LAC EMP 2020 said...

I've been reading about this project with great interest and didn't realise that it was paper as well as fabric. Knowing you, you'll think of something to do with these pieces.The compost heap may produce more of a result? I did some last year and the material nearly rotted away because of the heat. This warm spell we're having will have accelerated the process I think. I got the idea after reading an article about the work of Lorraine Glessner. After rotting fabric in the heap she then works into the pieces with encaustic. She has a blog and a website and is easy to find with a search (only because I can't remember off the top of my head... sorry!)Roll on bundle no 2. Lesley x

Unknown said...

I think you got wonderful results! They are subtle...and sweet.....and will make a fabulous piece of art work!
(hey)Jude
www.strawmountainblog.blogspot.com

Jasmine said...

Just beautiful :)

Things Hand Made said...

maybe you just need to sit and think about them a while longer, absorb them a bit.

queencashmere said...

you are so very creative! i'm always amazed!
wonderful work!!!

LOVE STITCHING RED said...

I tried hard but I couldn't see the face? Anyway, I saw your bundle 2 (compost) which has amazing potential so I'm sure you will come up with something gorgeous for the finished project. I think part of the whole exercise is seeing "what does what" which in itself is a learning curve for a future project. I shall be doing this again if you want to have another go some time. I loved your description of the des res LOL :o). I particularly like the butterfly shaped lace in bundle 2

Dorcas said...

You've some lovely results here - I've recently made my first bundle and am hoping the results will be just as good.