Erosion Bundle 2 - out of the compost heap

These are photographs of my second Erosion Bundle, fresh from the edge of the compost heap.  You might remember that my three feathered friends scratched it up, so it had to be reburied with due ceremony.   It was wet and soggy and definitely smelly.

And a feeding ground for some yukky maggots.

The photograph below shows a strip of screen-printed wool, which has faded quite a bit and has begun to grow some kind of mould.

Here it is with what I initially thought was more and bigger maggots, but then I remembered that it was a cuff I had knitted!   The lavender buds and incense sticks certainly did not conceal the pungent aroma wafting up from the unwrapped bundle.

Nice piece of disintegrating screen-printed muslin.

A close-up of the wool.

A gloriously golden stamp stuck to a piece of muslin, which took the dye from the wool.

Another muslin/stamp combination.

This is the knitted cuff that I thought was maggots, once it was rinsed and dried.

The whole piece has come out in a kind of butterfly wing shape, so there is definite potential there for something.

I love the way the dye shades have transferred to the lacey edging from the screenprinted wool cloth.

So now we've all got until August to produce our artistic creations ..... any suggestions more than gratefully received!

Click here to see what other Project participants have unwrapped and have a look at my yesterday's post if you want to see Bundle 1.

Erosion bundle

Last year I saw some examples on other people's blogs of bundles of 'stuff' left out to take their chances in the elements.   The 'stuff' was mostly textile-based, with some rusty metal, papers, berries, threads - anything you like - thrown in for good measure.   After a while, the bundles had been unwrapped and such delights as nature had produced were turned into small artworks by their talented bundlers.  

So there I was, kicking myself, not having seen the potential in the remains of my scarecrow which had been sitting outside on his French garden chair for over a year.   His vestments would have been perfect for a disintegration project.   An old wool suit waistcoat, a spotty hankie, a thick cotton ticking shirt - all dumped in the compost!

So, when I saw a reference on Carolyn's blog to the Erosion Bundle Project, I just had to have a go.  Unfortunately I was a wee bit late starting (it should have been 1st Jan.) and suddenly had an attack of the timids and didn't ask to add my name to the  list of participants.   But I made up my bundles nonetheless:  one to hang in a greengage tree and one tucked into the edge of the big compost heap in a place I hope the hens don't find it!   The idea is to photograph and share their progress and then on 15th April unwrap the bundles to see what surprises await.   Disintegration and decay are anticipated to produce some inspiration for a new artwork to be completed by the 1st August.   I'm just hoping that my slightly hastily-collected contents have the necessary artistic potential!  

I did put some thought into what the contents might do in the way of merging with each other, marking and staining their neighbours, evolving and decaying.   And then I thought that actually might be cheating a bit, trying to manipulate the results, so I  tried to be a bit more spontaneous with my second bundle.   One thing I did want to do with one of them was to introduce some aromatics.   One of my daily delights is to take the lid off my spice dabba and inhale the wafts of juniper berries, coriander seeds, cardamom pods, cumin.   I don't expect my retrieved bundle to be a sensory joy when I unwrap it after three months, but I did want to discover whether the spices not only marked the cloth, but if they would also impart a far-off exotic memory of their scent.

Then, a couple of days ago when I was huddled in the cold and damp in the orchard, waiting for the hens to retire for the night, I glanced up at my bundle dangling in the branches, pondering the ravages of wind, hail, rain, snow, sun that both it and I had endured during the past few weeks and I decided to be Captain Courageous and ask Kris if I could perhaps still join in the challenge publicly.   Ain't she grand!  She was very welcoming, so now I've got to make sure I take and post my photos and have the excitement of seeing everyone else's.