Slow Assemblage

 

The Medic

Slow assemblage occurs almost spontaneously, when objects come together across time and space. It is more intuitive than intentional.

Close-up, The Medic

This first piece was sparked by an encounter with a vendor selling vintage lead toy soldiers on Portobello Road in London. The valiant little army medic (94th Infantry Position, US Army, 1945) was so compelling that he was mine from the first moment. Is that a look of valor or despair in his eyes, or the "long stare" of a combat soldier who has simply seen too much of the horrors of war? Once back in California, not a second's thought went into pairing him with an antique miner's lantern, designed to hold a candle and be looped over a belt strap and found in a bin of junk over thirty years ago at the Alameda Flea Market,  The addition of candles - to illuminate the trenches, to light the way, to provide a focus for ritual, magic, and prayer was obvious. This slow assemblage had found itself.

The second slow assemblage also came together through time and space in spontaneous reaction to another object gifted to me in London — a foot carved out of volcanic rock from Hawaii. 

The Foot

The objects drawn to the foot and forming a perfect fit include a huge rusted nail picked up on a wander along the railroad tracks circa 1990, and a twisted, curved swirl of honeysuckle root picked up during a hike with Brother Shimo, a found wood and stone artist in Japan, back in 1970. The perfect housing emerged from a stack of assorted vintage drawers found here and there, over a span of decades.

Close-up

Nail and honeysuckle root

If the process of slow-assemblage is indeed non-intentional, one might wonder if there is any way to encourage or stimulate this spontaneous happening. Why yes, yes there is.  Curiosity, awareness, and mindless collecting are key ingredients. That scrap of rust on the ground is so lovely, why not pick it up? The broken figurine needn't go into the bin; who knows what it might give birth to a few decades from now? The answer, in short, is junk. 

Junk!

Lots and lots of junk. Every once in a while, bring some of it out, spread it around, and play with it. If nothing happens, store it away again with no harm and no foul. You simply had a pleasant interlude playing. This will also help you develop a comprehensive understanding of and relationship to your junk, so when and if a new object enters the picture you sense immediately which objects in your universe of junk are longing to be paired with it.

Lots and lots of junk!*

* Full disclosure: The photos above show a very, very small fraction of my vast junk collection.