…And then we cobbled something together
So I’ve got a confession to make. It’s pretty often that I’ll get very excited and invested in a new thing(1), and the thing this past week has been scratch crafting. Creative types will regularly accrue more brikabrak than they know what to do with(2), so what do we do with it all?? My solution to save all this stuff eventually ending up in a free pile or the landfill is to simply turn my house into a landfill, albeit with a bit of panache.
The new obsession began with a little innocent surfing of the world wide web. A youtuber I watch who sometimes paints minis mentioned Gaslands, a tabletop game where matchbox cars are converted into Mad Max(3) monstrosities. If you read that footnote, you’ll understand my love for the road warrior, and if you’ve read previous blog entries you’ll know my love for painting teeny things. I fell into a burning ring of fire eternal, and I’m still falling and tinkering with all my old toy cars. It’s right up my alley!
There are many videos and resources online to give you some starting ideas, but the important thing is to start looking at your unused supplies and trash(4) as solid gold rather than something clogging your bins and drawers(5). With the right adhesives, mechanical connections, and a bit of luck, it can be transformed into sculpture, birdhouses, or apocalyptic death machines!
First things first(6), give yourself permission to make beautiful, ugly things. Even if it ends up being a warmup piece, making something truly awful helps you reset your bar and get you moving and making. I mostly make ugly(7) things, and I wholly believe that when you joyfully lean into that process it’s very rewarding and honestly beautiful. I’ll keep hammering this point until I see more ugly art from y’all.
Coming up with an idea is the hardest part of a project, so I always put off committing to that as long as possible. Just start dry-fitting and putting things together and explore interesting combinations of shapes(8). It’s easier if you never stopped playing imaginary games, but I promise you can relearn if needed. Eventually the idea you need(9) will emerge, and then you unapologetically run with it.
Next up is when you start to really dial in what you’re working with. You’ve been gluing(10), maybe even started on painting, and you can start telling a story based on your subject(11). Good art comes from good design(12), and design is about communication, and if you’re already communicating then you might as well be weaving a story that can engage both yourself and anyone lucky enough to witness your work. You don’t need to know the whole story all at once, but it’s easier to stick bits together with reason even if it’s just in your head.
To be conscious of space, I need to get to the point beyond just scratch crafting(13). This methodology is something I use in my art, but there’s no reason it can’t be extended whatever medium you prefer whether that be more traditional sculpture, painting, drawing, getting dressed in the morning, or otherwise. If the elements to your piece can make narrative sense, then that can be communicated to a viewer. Be creative with the elements that go into your work, and let nothing go to waste(14). And for the love of god if you’re using superglue, have a window open. If you’re cutting or gently melting plastic into the shape you need it to be, PLEASE wear one of those big masks with the filter thingies. Otherwise, go crazy and make art. Ideally in that order.
(1) Thing truly being the most concise noun to use here. Sometimes it’s a new skill or field of knowledge, creative activity, or a person. It’s not a problem; it’s just left me knowing a little bit about a lot of different things!
(2) A common lamentation at ARTspot. Whether it’s the result of projects left unfinished, overestimating the supplies needed for a task, or plain impulse buys, we hear pretty often “I have TOO much art supplies.” Not to flex on y’all, but honestly I bet I have more art supplies than most of you all combined. Hence why I’m in this predicament.
(3) Ok, quick digression to talk about Mad Max: Fury Road. It came out sometime around 2012 or something, and I’m still waiting for a movie to be released that I like as much. Theater school kinda ruined my enjoyment of most movies that obviously just aren’t trying very hard to make the most of the medium. It’s rare for a movie to be produced where the acting is understated but effective, the narrative is plotted out to be compelling, and the design is both inspired and beautiful. I definitely wasn’t expecting a Mad Max movie of all things to tick all those boxes for me. If you haven’t seen it, witness it.
(4) Literally trash. I wasn’t exaggerating when I was talking about saving things from the landfill. Plastic, especially, is such a shame to add to the neverending, flaming pile of climate catastrophe. Doubly so if it’s been made into interesting shapes at or around the scale you’re working at!
(5) I promise I’m not trying to find ways for you to use what you have to make room for other cool, reasonably priced items maybe bought from your friendly, beautiful, and local art supply store.
(6) I know I write this a lot. Not, “first things first,” but rather what I’m about to write.
(7) Rusty, misproportioned, visually grating, and otherwise very punk rock
(8) I might be misremembering exactly a tip I picked up a while back, but keep your eye open for Pre-Manufactured Advantages (PMAs). Although the many plastic widgets and metal whatsits that litter our drawers and bins are rarely intended to be married by superglue, it feels like manufacturers tend to like to use parts that unintentionally align with each other. Parts will fit in holes (no pun intended), and surfaces will have harmonious dimensions. Just keep an eye out and smoosh parts together like my nephew learning to line up a Fisher-Price star into a Fisher-Price star-shaped hole just to learn what happens.
(9) Maybe what you’re putting together looks like the lower corner of a building? Or an arm? Maybe it looks like the side of a door that a little creature would be happy to fit through?
(10) On appropriately scored, scratched, or otherwise roughed-up surfaces. Glue does NOT like sticking to flat, featureless surfaces. It may like to trick you and say “hey, yeah, that feels like a good bond. You can totally move on,” only to then fail you at the least convenient time. Do not kid yourself about an adhesive bond; if you’re concerned, fix it.
(11) To plug someone who’s neither asking for nor expecting it, Mike O’Day is honestly a master of this. (This is his website, which feels like the right thing to share given that I’m secretly fangirling about his narrative design https://odayart.com/ ) For those not local to the Edmonds art scene, Mike is a ceramic artist and focuses on what is honestly such a delightful, whimsical style of sculpture. Whether the subject is an elusive Cheetalope, a small bird flying an airplane shaped like a bigger bird, or a handstanding gymnast on a birdbath, everyone has a narrative. Although they’re maybe not quite as developed and nuanced as the narrative of Mad Max: Fury Road, which I looked up and actually was released in 2015, they’re every bit as personalized and beautiful and add to the piece if you know them or if you can invent your own stories just by looking at them.
(12) I’m literally so sorry for so many footnotes so geographically clustered, but this methodology in creativity hearkens back to my illustrious entry #7 on the Bauhaus school. Although the school’s pedagogy didn’t talk about narrative, they preached the gospel of the unity of art and design.
(13) Although, believe me, I’d love nothing more than to rant at people and run everyone through my process on this. Raise your hand if you’d take a class.
(14) I like to treat my art supplies a bit like how I treat my produce in the fridge: the older stuff must be used first.