Friday, September 10

Retune Nashville: Behind The Art (Part 1)

Last night I found out that all the Retune Nashville projects are due in two weeks. For some reason I didn't get that memo and now I'm freaking out. For the next two weeks I will work on making this very ambitious project come to life -- and you will be along for the ride!

This project is bigger than anything I've ever done before and it involves a lot of different processes, but I'm going for it. Here’s my idea:

I have two flood damaged acoustic guitars, all in pieces. I am going to arrange the pieces onto a 40x40 wood panel. The wood panel will be collaged with newspaper and magazine articles I collected from the flood. So basically it's a mixed media 3D wall sculpture. Lastly I want to install guitar strings and a battery powered amp so that it will function musically as well as visually.

My biggest concern is: How do I turn something that is stressing me out into something fun? How do I simplify? My answer is bleach. Let me explain:

I’ve almost finished building the 40x40 wooden panel so my next step is to create the paper collage. I want it to be a mess of articles with controlled movement, randomness, action and fluidity. To achieve this I am going to use a bleaching technique. I have this very clear vision I my mind, but I will have to practice using the bleach tonight and tomorrow before I apply it to the final project. I'm thinking sponge dipped in a bleach solution with a squeezed/pour/drip action over the newsprint flood articles. This is where the fun part comes in, there’s nothing I love more than experimenting.

The next step is to get organized so here is my two week plan:

Friday 9/10: Finish building wooden panel and practice bleaching techniques.
Saturday 9/11: Prime wooden frame, continue practicing bleaching techniques.
Sunday 9/12: Collage newsprint Nashville flood articles on primed panel.
Monday - Friday 9/13 - 9/17: Finish collage and apply bleaching techniques to the collaged panel.
Saturday 9/18: Install flood damaged guitar parts on panel to create the 3-D wall structure.
Monday – Friday 9/20 - 9/24: Install playable guitar strings on the panel and complete project.
Saturday 9/25: Deliver completed art to Retune Nashville.

Photography and video will be taken along the way during the next two weeks while I create this piece, so stay tuned and tell your friends.

Learn more about Retune Nashville at: http://www.retunenashville.org/. Tickets are now on sale!

1 comment:

Denice said...

This sounds so awesome! Very organized and well thought out for it to be such a quick turnaround. I know you can do it!! I BELIEVE in you!!