And that number is abbreviated. The actual number looks like this: 13,500,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.
Or 13 tredecillion if you don’t want to take the time to write out all those zeros. That number represents the amount of possible collages embedded in my new project. About a year and a half ago I started fiddling around with ways to get collage off the page and into a more tactile experience. After finding little wooden cubes at the dollar store I began applying paper to them and sanding their edges to soften their look and feel. As they started accumulating on my workbench, I began experimenting with ways to display them and I became more and more interested in the idea of randomized collage.
At first I toyed with the idea of mounting them permanently onto a surface, or building a sculpture. “But then you can’t see one of their sides,” someone said. I liked that though. I enjoyed the random nature of them and that I couldn’t control what was being seen. Or even that a favorite side of a cube me may end up being hidden forever. A collage out of my control and that may suffer loss appealed to my sense of humor but ultimately the idea of having a new piece of art any time I wanted interested me more.
I took the cubes to a small local framer in Portland called I’ve Been Framed. After passing the little blocks across the counter, I told them what I was trying to accomplish. We bounced ideas off of each other and I left the cubes with the staff. As with every project I’ve taken to them, they did their magic. Their hard work and attention to detail is obvious when you see the piece on the wall or take it down to open the back and rearrange the cubes.
Something else I like about the project is that it’s the first series I’ve done that really lends itself to taking commissions. The pieces can be customized by frame color, color palette, and size. But the cubes themselves can also accommodate materials that may otherwise remain unseen. Do you have piles of your child’s old drawings or school work sitting in a box in your garage? Want to get them out of hiding and hanging on your wall? Items can be photocopied if you don’t want the originals destroyed. Have other items that you want to incorporate? I’m happy to work with you.