Boxed in Morley (Part I of II)
Monday, July 11, 2011 at 1:22PM So in the quest to create one of a kind pieces for the possible inclusion into galleries (at the behest of Steve Beale from The Outsiders) I started working on a few things. My biggest concern was that taking my work out of the street means that you lose a lot of the context. The notion that these messages were put out into the world and all of the visuals that you see around it are a very important part of my stuff I think, so I wanted to do something that would add that context back in a little. After trying a few ideas, I settled on making shadow boxes. Shadow boxes are these kinds of frames that you can buy that are essentially just boxes with glass fronts. I decided to put transparent versions of my slogans against the glass and use various medias in each box that illustrate the slogan in some way. I'm pretty happy with what turned out. Here's the first five of the ten that I currently have finished.
(Click the images to enlarge!)
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These photos came from a man who sells old pictures at a swap meet. I added the cake topper for that little extra push. I like to look at the photos and wonder what ever happened to these people. What made their photos end up in a big box at a swap meet? So much of a story in each little photo. Each little life.
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It's funny how specific I wanted this map to look and then when all is said and done it just looks like a regular map I guess. I am happy with the little car and air freshener but every time I open the box it stinks of artificial pine. I like adding the element of smell into the piece but it's pretty over powering. I'm sure by the time it gets into a gallery (if ever) the smell will chilled out.
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It's hard to tell in the photo but that's a little casket inside the box. I made a tiny little sticker that reads: "Return to Sender" on it. Hard to believe but that picture of water behind it was a 30 dollar "wall decal" which meant that basically it was a big sticker. Not the easiest thing to work with I assure you, as getting it right meant sticking and peeling it off. Cutting it was a nightmare.
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I had my sister Ruby use a pad of guest checks I ordered online as she worked one night. She's a waitress at a diner (and the inspiration for this slogan) and so I wanted to use real, actual orders. There's something so interesting about waitress short hand. It makes no sense to me at all but I guess if they don't screw up an order then they must know what they're doing. I ordered the name tag and used her name as another homage. The sugar is also from a real diner.
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This one was made from real "missed connections" I found on Craigslist. There was something so sad about reading desperate messages from lonely people hoping beyond hope that a random person they saw is just as desperate and lonely as they are. The little people are for a model train set. The scene was supposed to be a busy bus stop but I decided to have a distant observation from a man to a woman to reflect the text in the background. I know it's a little "Slinkachu" but hey, I still like it.
So there you go!
I don't have any plans for these right now but hopefully something will come together at some point and maybe these will make it to a gallery. Who knows?
I'll post the next five tomorrow!
Reader Comments (6)
These are for sure one of the coolest concepts I've seen. I'd own one in a heartbeat.
Those are awesome! Can I call dibs on the Hoverboard future if you do that one? I love it, but missed the print...
Those are awesome. My fave is the coffin rowboat, but that's always been one of my faves you've done.
I love all of them but the waitress one is VERY cool- in that the checks are real and the torture behind each ticket, with it's time ticking away from her life, is also real.
These turned out really fantastic, Morley. I just finished looking at the other 5 in part two. LOVE THEM!
These are SO awesome!!!! I would also love to buy one. I love the map one! You should put these on an etsy site!!!