Boxed in…
I often cruise Art shops (and occasionally Craft ones too) to see what’s new, what inspires and what’s still the same old same old. In one I walked into recently I noticed they have small pine boxes with latches, and some had clear see through tops in a range of sizes.
I guess the crafty and scrapbooking types will recognise them as a way of creating some form of “Keepsake” device where precious memories are displayed and therefore it’s a way of exploring 3D collaging in an intimate setting.
In the same way I think the boxes have a lot to offer the Art Student and or Visual Artist. Firstly the boxes are plain pine so they can be varnished, stained, painted and or added to in many ways.
The boxes could be a way of exploring 3d Art without having to go big scale and deal with storage issues of large works. I think the intimacy a small work can create could be an interesting drawcard as well.
For creative starting points lets think about a few possibilities…
- Create a series of small things to place in the box along one theme.
- Try making small 3D paper objects, perhaps out of printed or painted paper… consider origami as a starting point.
- The box could contain found objects relating to one theme.
- The box could house a working model of some kind, perhaps you pull a string or press a button to make a mechanism “do something” inside the box.
- Simply use it as a frame to house a miniature painting and perhaps give the painting a fresh or different meaning.
- Consider making the contents so they could be changed by the owner to reflect a different mood or feeling.
- Jamming it full of letters cut out of magazines, and shaking it to create a different work each time it’s shaken.
- As a place to put very small written works or images which can cover the internal walls like wall paper (great if the box is deep).
- Hang a fine string like a clothes line and attach miniature objects to the line. You could add a painted scene in the background.
- Hang small things off strings set at differing depths to add depth.
- Paint an optical illusion in the box using the depth of the box for enhanced effect.
- Use a deeper box like a diorama and set up a miniature scene of some kind.
Of course the possibilities are endless, the main thing here being the price of the boxes I looked at were very cheap, and came in a range of sizes.
If you create one or three of these, send us a link to a photo in the comments for this post and show us what you have created!
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