Accidental Art: Exploration #27

Wow! I haven't done an exploration from the book, How To Be An Explorer Of The World: Portable Art Life Museum by Keri Smith, since February! Let's get back to it, shall we?


Exploration #27


ACCIDENTAL ART


Go for a walk. Identify and document existing "art" that you find, such as things that are not created on purpose. Some examples include stains on the sidewalk, spilled paint, bird poo, residue, corrosion, rust, things that are damaged, random arrangements of objects that you find interesting, a bag caught in a tree.


I kept thinking I would set aside some time to go on a walk specifically for this assignment and collect photos. What ended up happening is that over the course of the last month I randomly came across accidental art and stashed the photos in my phone until I had collected enough to feel like the project had been completed. So this project came about very organically...almost accidentally.


Heading to the car one morning during a rain shower, I noticed that dozens of worms were seeking refuge under the carport. I saw an abstract of their trails on the concrete and thought of this exploration. I think it is totally museum worthy.

Worm trails on concrete.

This next piece makes me think of the small fur balls that would pop off of the mogwai and produce gremlins from the classic 80's movie Gremlins. I wasn't that far off either. That little fur ball on the oak leaf is a leaf gall caused by tiny wasps! (miniature gremlins?) Luckily the oak apple gall wasp doesn't sting and is harmless to humans. The galls look neat though.

Leaf gall.

Close up of the gall.

My final piece might be the gnarliest. On the south end of Chigger Chalet is a large tree stump. Stump doesn't really seem like the right word though. It looks like someone took a chainsaw to it just beneath where the branches would have begun...so it is a very tall stump. It is tangled in a mess of vines I haven't identified yet and a has a piece of wood nailed to it that may have been part of a bird house at some time. I used to think the whole thing to be a huge eyesore, but I have become fond of it and to me it is art. Mark wants to clear the area and get rid of it to better use the space, so I am memorializing it here on the blog.

Gnarly tree stump.

Closer view of wood on stump.

That wraps up exploration #27! I'll leave you with an photo of the sun's reflection in the river taken on an overcast day last week. The branches seem to be straining to form a star around the sun glow. 

Sun's reflection in the Finley River.

Look with all your eyes, look. -Jules Verne

~ Love & Light ~