Collection

 

    For this project, I created a collection and a means for display. For a while I wasn't sure what the collection would consist of, as I didn't think I collected anything; until after a few days I remembered my collection of socks. I could not display the collection in its full glory, unfortunately, as many of the socks were at a different location. However, I was able to pull together a considerable mount of socks, with enough to create several fun displays with. In a way the collection is the 4 things I did with the socks, but really it is the collecting of the socks I think that I have turned into art, as this now becomes a sort of life long performance piece in that I will always be wearing one of the pairs. Played largely with the whimsical side of the collection and the various ways I could combine them given their unique shape and color as a building material. 

    The first display was just a mount of socks, difficult to see the size of through an image but regardless a chaotic spaghetti of all of my socks in one place. This was the most instinctive way for me to think of putting the socks together, which lead into the next display. I then ordered the socks by laying them all out flat, edges touching, and sorted them by color. This was actually my favorite display in the end, as I was able to see the distribution in color designs across the socks, forming an odd abstract mosaic color wheel of fabric. The third display was a sort of tower, with the socks stacked like Lincoln logs into a volcano shape about 14-18 inches high. This was the most transforming display on the collection, as in the end it almost looks like its's made of something other than socks. It was as though I had stacked up a collection of folded shirts, and cut a square hole in the middle. I almost had it topple over a few times, but socks made for a surprisingly stable building material.

    And finally, using the socks a strips, I made a lattice weave out of them. This is partly a homage to my love of pie baking, and partly shows another way of laying them out flat that took up much less space on the ground, as more of the socks overlapped. In the end I think one can still tell that they are socks, but it felt different when putting it together. Perhaps because I have made a lattice only out of dough before so many times, changing the medium had a different effect on me as an artist. 

    Overall this was a fun and celebratory piece, and it made me realize that I had never sat down with my entire collection to work with them as an artist. It allowed me to see all of them at once rather than one a day, and gave me some insight into the ratios of socks that I had. (I didn't realize how much red I owned.) If I were to continue this or have a follow-up piece in the future, I would likely wish to do it with my full collection, and might continue to play with the different sculptures I could make with them. They are sort of an odd material with few counterparts, and as much fun as it was to see all of my socks in one place and work with them in a different way, it was also stimulating artistically to use them as a medium.