3 TINS part 3

MAKING THE WORKS 2

Once I'd decided to use a duster inside the POLISH tin the rest followed easily. Various ways to get the text onto it were considered and sampled but the automated machine embroidery gave clarity plus a degree of gravitas that seemed fitting for ministerial pronouncements. Thread colour echoes the duster edging. I'll probably impregnate it with some polish to add smell if I can find any at the back of the cupboard.


Sampling: machine embroidery

I've chosen to use an assortment of plasters and fonts in the AID tin to suggest an uncoordinated approach. I quite like the amateurish look of the texts on these. To start with I wasn't sure stitching over the lettering would add anything but now 'stitching things together' is in my mind and the idea that a lot of effort doesn't always achieve anything useful. Mainly, I hope it will add in a suggestion of the feelings of care, comfort and nurture that trigger donations to emergency aid. So it has to be hand stitched. Also it might help tick the 'textile' box which I was beginning to worry was not obvious enough!

Two strands or three? Sampling stitching on plasters was a real pain because the glue gums up needle and thread. A baby wipe helps but stopping every other stitch or so to deal with it breaks the sewing rhythm. Will I have the stamina to stitch them all?

UNIVERSAL SALVE is the most difficult piece to make decisions on. The original plan was to include a zig-zag book of circles to emulate the fold-out directions found on some products. I like the sculptural look of these - a bit like a slinky.

Paper seems too flimsy to stay standing up; card is not easy to fold neatly. This structure might be hard to read when displayed.

Using ribbon to string the circles together is a possibility as is this interesting arrangement in the Schraubthaler or Coin Book:

Although I'd lose the 'slinky' structure, this sort of book would be easy to open out for display and facilitate reading. Ribbon spacing would need to accommodate thickness of one or more pages.

I'm currently thinking of printing the text onto fabric, stiffening with Lutradur and joining discs with ribbon. Will it attach to the tin (Velcro?) or be free standing? Will I include images? The order in which the 'pages' open might determine placement of text. Will it be double sided? Is there a simpler solution?

Now wishing I'd started sooner!

3 Tins - part 2

MAKING THE WORK

I had intended to create containers to mimic/echo the tins. Lutradur or pelmet vilene could have created the necessary stiffness. The more I thought about it the less enthusiasm I had for this approach because I felt it would not add anything to the ideas in the work. I wanted something to look old like the pieces in the museum, but to have more unexpected contents relating to modern times.

So I looked for some ready-made tins I could adapt and scavenged these:

First I sanded them then painted on a layer of gesso:

Finally I painted with acrylics and a layer of matt medium to seal. Labels were created in PaintshopPro, printed on paper, sealed with matt medium and stuck to the tins with transfer adhesive.



That’s the containers done. Needless to say none of this was as easy as it appears when I summarise it!

Next up the contents. This is taking a while to get right but here are a few scribbles from my sketch book to show how messily I work and how verbal my approach is! I really admire the sketchbooks some artists create so beautifully. Masterpieces in their own right. Guess I’m a back-of-an-n-v-lope person.

3 Tins

INSPIRATION AND CONCEPT

In the boxed collections a tin of Mentholum appealed. This healing cream could be used for all sorts of ailments. The reverse of the tin reads: DIRECTIONS APPLY TO THE PARTS AFFECTED. (Sorry about the out-of-focus photo.)
I like the idea of a cure-all. It's an understandable human desire despite the scepticism it can arouse. Thinking of conditions it might treat, words such as 'cuts', 'strains', and 'bruising' reminded me of the current economic climate. Mentholatum was manufactured in Slough 1900-1940s, a period that also included hard times.

From these associations came my idea for a UNIVERSAL SALVE which could treat the painful consequences of our current situation and government policies.

Also in the boxes was a Band Aid tin which had cost 2 shillings. This linked to the Mentholatum in being used to treat the body too and manufactured in Slough during the 1920-1940s. Thinking of the body as a metaphor for the world I could imagine the plasters patching up the evils released from Pandora's Box. Suffering is brought to our attention daily via the media. We want to respond but are often helpless when faced with the enormity of the problems.

AID will be my resonse to these thoughts and maybe question whether aid is the most effective means of addressing poverty, conflict and vulnerability.

Tins must be chiming with me because I also liked the one from the Cedar Mop Company holding a mop head. The smell of polish was evocative of my childhood.

(Does anyone polish these days?)

The accompanying polish was a bright orange concoction in a bottle.

Manufactured around the same time as the Band Aid tin, it claimed to clean and polish just about every surface - floors, cars and furniture. Another all-purpose product! It made me think of superficial shine, making something look more attractive, covering up the unappealing.

POLISH will focus on political spin.

Really enjoying reading about the ideas and processes of others on this blog. Thanks for posting.