As I’ve now collected well over a hundred and fifty bottle tops from the gutter along my street, the human urge to sort, arrange, and classify has begun to take over and they are now sorted by colour and brand with three special additional categories – “one-off wonders”, “Please recycle me”, and “rusty runovers” – the last category being my favourite as I really like the patina, texture, surface, and pattern – plus you wonder more about their journey , how long they have been on the street, and how they have got so battered and flattened. I’ve also noticed I’m getting quite attached to my collection, and becoming more picky about which ones I will add – seeking out the rarities like some antique coin collector!!
I’m also quite pleased with the ways in which I have transformed these found objects so far via the photography, monotype, and collage collated into the large mixed media piece. The effect I am aiming for is that at first sight the bottle tops are largely invisible, and it is only when the eye tunes into the photographic pieces that they become more familiar, hopefully leading the viewer to then see the shape of bottle tops in the rubbings and stamps, and perhaps wonder if they also made the marks of the striking linear patterns in the monotype prints…
I’m pleased with the sheer variety of different marks which have been made so far by the bottle tops and the “defamiliarisation” effects achieved to date – rendering them invisible initially so that they can then be more fully visible leading to further consideration. Several people I have asked to view the piece have all said that they didn’t realise initially it was of bottletops….
I really like the close up details of the piece and wonder if I can develop this work further in terms of a different media or finish to the work to take it beyond collage – can these details work into textiles or image transfers?? Or print them on high quality photographic paper? – more consideration is needed.
ArtInSight 