Seth Apter's Disintegration Project - The Big Reveal August 1st 2009

http://thealteredpage.blogspot.com/ Seth Apter's bloggy address which will have links to all those who have participated in this project and have posted their 'reveal'.

The Original Idea and Part 1

My instructions from Seth. 'Basically you need to create a "bundle" out of paper and what ever other materials you want to use. You can see many examples on my blog. Wrap it up somehow and place it in nature. Hang it. Bury it. Submerge it. Lean it. Whatever you like. Then let Mother Nature be your collaborator. Take a photo of your bundle in its new home and post it on your blog. Then wait and watch. On May 1, all participants will then post an "after" picture on their blog. There will also be a part 2 to the project. I will send details to everybody soon. Please email me again when you have your bundle photo posted. That way I can link to it and add your name to the list of participants.'

So I did and here it is.


These are the things that made up my bundle. The toilet paper was wrapped around the very outside and the whole was tied with string.











I hung my bundle fairly high in a tree on our allotment. Otherwise it wouldn't have been long before our dog Buster found it and demolished it. The date was March 17th













In May, I took down my bundle. A lot of it hadn't changed very much, but the photo of the ibis had taken on a purple splodgy look from a piece of crepe paper up against it. It looked wonderful.






The Ibis after exposure to the weather and purple crepe paper. I took my bundle down on May 12th

















Some of the other items after the bundle was opened.














Part 2

Quote from Seth's email. 'Part of my initial inspiration behind this project was my feeling that disintegration is not a negative force but a part of the process of creation. For example, while some see rust as destructive and corrosive...I see it as a new and beautiful development. In life, as in art, growth and evolution is often preceded by conflict, turmoil, and challenge. "Out of chaos, brilliant stars are born" (I Ching Hexagram #3). So for me, the disintegrated bundles will all be more compelling than the original, "pristine" versions. This leads me to Part 2! Finally! I would like everybody to create a new artwork using some or all of the disintegrated materials in your bundles. No rules here. Anything goes. Big reveal planned for Saturday August 1. That gives everybody three months to either (1) have enough time to leave their bundle in the elements for more disintegration before creating their artwork or (2) get started immediately on their new creation. Artist's choice. Of course, you are not obligated to participate in Part 2...but I hope you will!'

This also explains a little more about Seth's whole motivation behind the project and will maybe help you understand the process more.

I decided I would do some weaving with my weathered bundle. I had to have some sort of frame and as we live on a willow 'farm', I decided to used willow sticks for the frame. I simply grabbed a bundle experimented to make a frame, which ended up looking a little like a wigwam. I used string to make the warp threads and either the paper or material in the bundle for the wefts. I find weaving a very therapeutic activity and anyone who has read my blog post 'Inspiration Wednesday' from 29th July will see what I have achieved with my weaving.

As my structure is in 3D form I had to take quite a few photos to show the finished piece from all angles. I hope you get an idea from these pictures.

The original bundle of sticks.
Fixed together at the base. Seeing these two photos, my son called it 'The Wicker Man'. I have changed this to The Woven, a more androgynous name.

After this it just evolved. I had 2 A4 photos in my bundle, the Ibis and one of a butterfly on a flower. I wove those so that the pictures would show again, reborn.
The Ibis side. A close up is below:

The plastic fish were also in the bundle. Hung here, they represent my swim through life, often against the tide, hoping eventually to find a calm sea. I am often very unsure of myself ; for example, I would like to see what others in this project have made before I reveal what I have done for fear of it being 'not good enough'. I think many creative people are like this. So we weave our way unsteadily along, bumping into obstacles, hopefully overcoming them but always trying to choose our own path as an individual. That is what I have tried to achieve and represent in this work. Each section of weaving forms a sail of a boat.

Underneath the Ibis is a woven section of striking colours. The green was crepe paper and the yellow/black mix was a fashion photo. Here I have mixed up the picture in a chaotic way.

To the left is the yellow/butterfly side, below is a closer shot:
Again, the butterfly picture has been chopped up, destroyed, then put together again, reborn. It is, coincidentally, a 'Red Admiral'. If you click on any of the photos you can see the weaving in more detail. The top of this section was a picture of smiley faces, which you can still recognise even in their disorganised state.

The 'sail' to the left of the photo is all material and is deliberately unfinished, as am I.

Turned a bit more, the blue stripe is the door to the inside of The Woven. I love its striking contrast to the calmer, autumn colours. Here is a closer shot of the next yellow section:
The top section is a Christmas Card left over from the ones I made this year using pressed leaves from our trees. The yellow at the bottom is made from paper bags which spread the recycling message, something very dear to my heart.
'Made with 100% recycled paper' as, indeed, is The Woven.
This pale sail was made from the outer gift bag in which all the other contents of the bundle were contained. It, too, has butterflies on it and I joined some of them as I have the Ibis and Red Admiral. A close up is below:
Final View of the whole:
This, thin, red, white and purple sail is full of joy and colour and youthfulness.

I apologise for posting so many photos but there are so many different segments to The Woven.

The Top

There is an ATC (Artist Trading Card) hanging from the top, both its front and back as they separated. This is one of the first ones I made and meant a new path for me. It has turned out to be very rewarding. The little tube wrapped in gold and red thread contains 3 'Q tips'. The tube itself was wrapped in grey cotton which I have used to hang some of the objects. I wrote on it before I wrapped it:
'We each weave a path through life, sometimes becoming tangled, strangled.'

There are fine threads of gold, copper and red woven around the top sticks of The Woven, like random cobwebs. They can hardly be seen in any of the photos.

I wanted to do something with the tissue toilet roll. I made them into balls, colouring them green with paint and mixing them with PVA glue. I then wrapped some in shimmering threads and others in the grey cotton. The ones wrapped in grey are hung inside, but the ones wrapped in glossy thread are proudly displayed at the head.

This is the only woven part of the top, it is like a slide. You can just see the scroll on the right hand side and the green of another fish inside.

Looking Inside

You may wonder where the original 'Bee' is. He was hanging from the bottom of my bundle and changed little during the battering he took from the Irish weather. Here he is hanging inside, right at the heart of The Woven and along his white wings is now written 'Bee Yourself'.
Me, Gina. BT, The Crafty Gardener. Dressed scruffily in Wellington Boots as I am a gardener too.

A montage of pictures I have not used so far.

Thank you Seth for involving me in this wonderful project. I have enjoyed it immensely, especially Part 2.