Old Pages

Take a look at what my friend Destiny Carter has been doing. She's using old book pages I weathered earlier this year, during The Altered Page Disintegration Project. Destiny is a great artist who can just sit down, pencil in hand and in a few minutes draw something wonderful. As with many true artists, she doesn't seem to think this is amazing at all.

I am the lucky recipient of her talent in many ways. She designed my blog banner, helps maintain my website, cuts stencils for me and designed all the marketing material for my up-coming Open Studio in October. Thanks Destiny!

The Big Reveal - Disintegration

Disintegration - May 1

As my daughter would say: "Not so much with the disintegrating!" I leave a tablecloth on the table on the deck for a week - and it fades. The curtains around our outside spa have wind rips in them after a month - but leave 100+ year old book blocks out in the rain, wind, sun and coastal salt air and they look just about the same as they did the day I put them out 2 months ago. Go figure!

Disintegration -March 1

Disintegration - April 1

But now the fun begins - getting to make art out of them.

But is it disintegrating?

Bundle on March 2

Above is what my paper bundle for Seth's Disintegration Project looked like when I put it out on March 2. Below is what it looks like now, a month later. Now I don't know about you, but I don't see much difference. It has rained several times, lots of gusty winds, fog, salt-laden ocean air and sunshine - but it looks almost like it did when I put it out. Now if I had accidentally left something paper outside, for even a day or two, it would have taken a beating, fallen apart and been a mess. I mean, I have holes the size of quarters in my car's air-conditioning system because the salt air has eaten through it, so what's with this pristine pile of paper?! There's a month to go - I'm hoping for some disintegration by May 1st.

Bundle on April 2

Disintegration

Late to the game - but I'm in! Seth of The Altered Page is hosting - Disintegration - artists all over the globe are putting paper bundles (of all kinds) out in nature for several months. Take a beginning photo and then photograph the evidence as time goes on, until the final picture on May 1st - the last day.

Here's my contribution: several old book blocks (the entire book minus the covers) tied together with green and yellow tri-ply string. I used two old books - 100 years plus- and two newer ones - published in the last 20 years. It will be interesting to see the difference of disintegration to the two ages of paper. They sit on a bench in my front garden, underneath a eucalyptus tree waiting to receive the elements. No worry of snow here in Morro Bay, but rain, wind, lots of salt air and eucalyptus detritus.