Sunday, September 25, 2011

Into the unknown...

I continue to be intrigued by the creative process and am sure I will never fully understand how it works, but then I guess therein lies the magic.

Whilst we were away recently we visited a couple of great 'tip shops'. That is, the shop they have at the dump, the tip or the waste transfer station - whichever way we currently describe where all the rubbish goes. People working there identify the odd bits and pieces that could possibly be used by others and rescue them, then sell them at a very small price at the 'tip shop'.

At one such shop I bought 3 old books - ratty and tatty and without their spine coverings, but I thought they looked lovely.

I brought them home with no real idea what I would do with them; I just loved the look of them.

They sat there and I thought about them, imagined them wrapped with thread, or wire. Envisaged them somehow showing tidelines in the sand and just enjoyed them acting as a small inspiration, something to focus on in amongst the madness of the work-work world.

Over the weekend I began to play with them, found some other books that were quite dilapidated and started to get those exposed spines together and looking good.

Barry and I have fiddled with them, looked at them and pondered where they go next...

I'm not exactly sure what happens next, but I am loving the process unfolding, no clear direction, but interesting options, and sharing that exploration with B.





Posted by Fiona Dempster at 5:30 PM
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13 comments:

  1. Liz Davidson / Artist NotebookSeptember 25, 2011 at 9:16 PM

    These photos are gorgeous, layers of history and meaning. The stitching reminds me of the great shots you posted from Glyphs and Moths. Can't wait to see where you go next.

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  2. JenniferSeptember 25, 2011 at 9:23 PM

    The photos are breathtaking. I keep trying to feel the textures through the computer screen, but it just isn't working. The stitch lines remind me of tracks or roads...journeys. Hmmm...there's a story there.

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  3. jgrSeptember 25, 2011 at 9:52 PM

    Fiona, what gorgeous photos! The ancient texture is lovely.

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  4. LAC EMP 2020September 25, 2011 at 10:56 PM

    Covetable close ups Fiona. Where will you go next with this I wonder? I guess, wherever your creative intuition leads you and that's the great learning experience of it all isn't it? I do so wish we had a 'tip' shop. Nothing like that exists here. Perhaps I could suggest it... I'd be the best customer. Lesley x

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  5. Velma BolyardSeptember 26, 2011 at 1:39 AM

    they're lovely. you will do something amazing. be careful of the "dust", too. not nice to inhale.

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  6. Leslie Avon MillerSeptember 26, 2011 at 7:59 AM

    to see. to think. to feel. to create. to live.

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  7. wandamarie.blogspot.comSeptember 26, 2011 at 9:44 AM

    ESPECIALLY TEXTURAL! LOVE!

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  8. layersSeptember 26, 2011 at 11:12 AM

    it is the process... the searching and the discovery and the possibilities.. that all is what artists want and need.

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  9. BarrySeptember 26, 2011 at 8:53 PM

    F- uncovering the layers - uncovering the texture - love what deconstruction can create. B

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  10. Missouri Bend Paper WorksSeptember 27, 2011 at 4:13 AM

    Love the idea of the "tip shops"! More than that though, I love the surface, colors and revealed history of these old books....they've found the perfect home!
    Cheers!

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  11. Jo MurraySeptember 27, 2011 at 5:01 AM

    It takes a very creative eye to do what you have already done with these books.... made extraordinary photos.

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  12. GabriellaSeptember 28, 2011 at 3:29 AM

    Not that I have a bias or anything as a photographer, but I wonder whether these images ARE the artwork meant to come from the dilapidated books? Could you not work with that idea somehow? Perhaps print these images out and work with the sheets...

    I think of what Barry's been doing lately with his photographic manipulations, such a different medium for him and such amazing results. Sometimes the thing we might not intend or view as art is the real thing. Just sayin...

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  13. Fiona DempsterSeptember 28, 2011 at 10:26 AM

    Dear all - thanks so much for your thoughts and responses. They are all so thoughtful and supportive.

    Liz - thanks, the images are full of hidden meanings and layers, and the books were crying out to be photographed.

    Jennifer - so true! I love the desire to reach out and touch them; they are very tactile. And aren't the marks left by the stitching remarkable?

    Thanks Jane - there really is a sense of age and weathering and history in them.

    Hi Lesley - great phrase "covetable close ups"! "Tip" shops are wonderful things and we laugh at our shopping expeditions -the tip shops nearly always rate the highest! You would have a ball - perhaps we could arrange a few trips if you were ever out this way??

    Velma - thanks for the tip; I did discover that along the way and took more care as I went along. Thanks too for the compliments - I hope I can do the books justice.

    Leslie - it is that way isn't it? it's how we are, how we go thru this world...

    Hi Wanda - glad you love them! I agree - wonderful lovely texture!

    So true Donna - the process is a wonder, the exploration and the discovery...

    B - thanks - so much lying hidden, waiting to be revealed and oh what beauty from deconstruction you are right!

    Thanks Patti - you too would love a 'tip shop'; and I'm glad you like the unlayering, the revealing...

    Jo - thank you! It's funny that that was what I saw the most - almost harder to stand back and imagine them as a whole piece.

    G/TT - oh wow! That stopped me in my tracks. A whole new path to ponder and explore - and it resonates, so thank you very much! Who knows what happens next?

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I appreciate your thoughts and comments; thanks for taking the time.

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