Sunday, September 12, 2010

Art Anniversary/Bookending a Body of Work

2 years ago this month, I began experimenting with a new type of art involving cutting coins into pieces and using those scraps to build larger images. The first was political, and I made it during the build-up to the presidential election of 2008.
A few weeks later, I began work on mosaic, 36"x24", with which I wanted to document the shared human predicament of being defined by money from conception.
This piece was always meant to be the first of two similar mosaics, but I became overwhelmed with other project ideas and had to put the second part aside for a spell.
Now, at long last, I've returned to the project and I'm thrilled to say it's nearly completed.
The results could not be more pleasing.
I think I've definitely refined my technique, and have gotten much faster as well.
When I put the silicone onto this mosaic, a few unexpected chemical reactions took place.
Some really crazy cool colors appeared as the curing adhesive reacted with the many money metal alloys.
I had planned to go in later with a patina, but the Universe beat me to it.
Wildest is this brilliant magenta.
So how much money did I use?
Enough to eat for a week, on the right budget.
But not enough to pay a Wireless bill.
Anyway, it's only money.
They'll make more.