Children's Block by Block, Glueing It All Together

The amount of paper I have upstairs (where I do most of the makings) is staggering. It’s mostly organized, but there’s a lot, so some of it isn’t so organized. There’s the stacks of old magazines and books, the piles of “processed” paper (paper ripped from old books), and then there’s the cut pieces, or pieces ready to be incorporated into a collage. The latter is the last step in a long process that could take years. Anyone looking at these piles might not see pattern, but I do. It all makes sense, mostly. Because things are put together in such a fashion, I can dive into collage-making in no time, which for a very time-conscious me, is important.

Over the past year, I’ve focused mainly on creating paper collages. When I have an hour or two, I can go upstairs and be making something within minutes because of my “system.” It’s one I’ve not deviated from too much. I’ve forced myself into a pattern for more than a year just to see how things change and morph over time. Even if you do the same thing over and over, you’ll do it differently over a stretch of time. I’ve forced myself into repetition. 

Lots of old cardboard, pieces of board games, and even some Japanese money in there.

And then I had a lot of collages leftover from my Christmas making period, like a lot. Most of them went into thrift store frame destined for little libraries around the area. Some of them were stuck to books and some were affixed to pieces of wood (children’s blocks and toys) for no particular reason. Side note, making stuff without purpose is freeing. When you find yourself gluing for an hour and taking stock of what you’ve done, it’s a great feeling. Trying to identify what to do with three dimensional objects is a puzzle that comes from repetition. No way am I going to mail them because of heft and thus price, so now what?

Books and magazines have a section upstairs, but so does non-paper items. These things go into two drawers built into the side of my work space. Honestly, I don’t know what’s in there, not really. I find stuff for free, or at a thrift store, and it gets dumped there. Maybe I’ll use it or maybe it’ll last forever and ever in large piles. My wife and I have been in our house for six or seven years, so those drawers are full. 

The "frame" is a children's puzzle.

Yes, that's Shirley MacClaine's eye in there!

So…I have a bunch of small pieces of things I glued together without a plan, blocks and dice and small bits of plastic. I went digging in the drawers and found two painted boxes that puzzle pieces once went in. No idea how long ago these were painted, or even why they were painted? Some of the glued pieces fit right into these painted boxes, giving them a shadowbox feel. Think Pop Art Joseph Cornell. In a couple of these boxes I worked in a baby doll foot, a paper collage I had on my desk, board games pieces, and some repurposed old cardboard. I really love old cardboard, I have a giant box of it upstairs. Slowly something started to emerge. I went from being bored at my and desk and indiscriminately gluing stuff, to somehow producing these objects of varying quality.

Now that things have taken shape, I have a focus, a vision for what might come next. For me this means a lot, namely I’m thinking about these objects during my daily routine. This changes how I go into thrift stores. Over the coming weeks, as I try and finish up some more boxes, I’ll think of what can be included. I’ll look a little longer at thrift stores, especially the kids section. Taking apart children’s games is so much fun and cheap. And I’m sure I’ll dig through the trash a little more than I normally do. Just yesterday I bought some things with the express idea of finishing a couple these boxes. I found some plastic balls and tiny bowling pins and a few old board games with 50 year old cardboard inside.

Side note. I’m fascinated with signs, I love signs. You know signs, like the ones that give you direction while you’re driving, I think they’re terse poetry. I’ve always made things like these. I especially like them when they’re not doing exactly what they need to be doing. Signs that confuse as much as clear up. Signs that play with puns while trying to tell you something in just a few words. I’ll end up making a lot of these with blocks and scrabble letters. 

This is capital "A," art!