PRISCILLA OTANI
  • PORTFOLIO
    • FEMINISM >
      • HILLARY
      • ALL DOLLED UP
    • RESISTANCE & POLITICS >
      • I DO BELIEVE
      • HYPER-PARTISANNALIA
      • OUR HEARTS BEAT AS ONE
    • CULTURAL >
      • KITSUNE
      • YOU ARE NOT FORGOTTEN
      • PLEASURE QUARTERS
      • WIND TRAVELER
      • HIRO
    • ENVIRONMENTAL
  • WIP BLOG
  • ABOUT
    • EXHIBITIONS
    • RESUME
  • CONTACT
Picture

WIP (WORK IN PROGRESS)

nextdoor kerfuffle

1/20/2023

0 Comments

 
Picture
Picture
I participate in the Postal Collage project every year hosted by the Round Table Collaboration. They randomly assign five or so participants into a group to make collages in the round. This collaboration consists of adding elements to each other's collages with very little restriction. 

At the beginning of September I created a collage with torn paper repaired untidily with band-aids, a childhood photo, and fragments of mail. I deliberately left room for people to add things to it. Although the rules require sending collages once a month, my group was exuberant and collages started arriving well in advance of the deadlines. I had to make sure I kept them in order so as not to mess with the sequence. According to the schedule, I was supposed to receive my original collage back on February 1, 2023 but it came back in early December, 2022.

My collage was unrecognizable. After everyone was through, the torn paper had been neatly mended and the entire sheet was covered with cute animal and plant images with just my photo and the words "I do believe in a right to privacy" left over from the original. I saw individualized narratives rather than a cohesive whole. I could not relate to the cute elements. I set the collage aside and went to London for the Holidays. 

Back this week, I took the collage with me to Collage-a-Rama, a monthly collage-making evening at Arc Gallery. There, I looked at it with fresh eyes and gave myself permission to alter significantly. I decided to go with the small newspaper clippings on surveillance and privacy on the top right side of the paper. I found a page of middle-aged men faces in GQ magazine; the faces reminded me of G-men. I used them to make over the animal faces. I also had a sheet of rub-on lettering and decided to add random text into the collage.

The next day, I had a break-through. Using lettering stickers, I added Nextdoor discussion threads about break-ins, catalytic converter thefts, loud noises, theft of packages, recall of Chesa Boudin, police apathy and attacks on progressive politics in San Francisco. I transformed a sweetly nostalgic collage of flowers, greenery, beloved cats and cute bunnies into a raucous commentary about this moment in time in San Francisco.  I like the result, even if the collage is a lot busier than what I normally would compose.  
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    useful things

    white marker, double-sided tape, scissors, black paint, glue stick   

    archives

    January 2023
    March 2022
    December 2020
    June 2016
    May 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    October 2015
    September 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    August 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    September 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010

    categories

    All
    Absence/Presence
    Arc
    Art Tag
    Assemblage
    Choice
    Collage
    Doll
    Dollhouse
    Godzilla
    Gojira
    Golden Gate
    Holiday
    Installation
    Japanese
    Jizo
    Land Art
    Mixed Media
    Openings
    Paper
    Performance Art
    Play
    Sculpture
    Traveler
    Work In Progress

    la liste

    • Alejandra Chaverri
    • Arc Blog
    • Arc Studios and Gallery
    • ArtSpan
    • ArtWaves
    • Burning Man
    • CA 70
    • Chowhounds
    • College Art Association
    • Craigslist
    • Creativity Explored
    • Crucible
    • Currency Converter
    • diamondposte
    • Facebook
    • Hyperdia 
    • Judy Shintani
    • Little Red Mail Box
    • Mrpotani Books
    • Mrpotani Flickr
    • National WCA
    • National WCA Blog
    • NCWCA
    • NCWCA Blog
    • NY Times
    • Oakland A's
    • Orbitz
    • PCBA 
    • SCRAP
    • SF Art News
    • SF Artist Network
    • SF Center for Books
    • SF Recycling AIR
    • Shutterfly
    • Slide.com
    • SOMA Open Studios
    • Stark Guide
    • Tanya Wilkinson Portfolio
    • Tavi
    • Twitter
    • United Nations
    • Visitors to Mrpotani World
    • Weather
    • Weebly
    • Weight Watchers
    • Women Artists on Immigration
    • WCA Artwaves
    • World Affairs Council
    • Writer's Corp
    • Yahoo Maps
    • Year of Eating
    • Yelp
    • Young Women's Caucus

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • PORTFOLIO
    • FEMINISM >
      • HILLARY
      • ALL DOLLED UP
    • RESISTANCE & POLITICS >
      • I DO BELIEVE
      • HYPER-PARTISANNALIA
      • OUR HEARTS BEAT AS ONE
    • CULTURAL >
      • KITSUNE
      • YOU ARE NOT FORGOTTEN
      • PLEASURE QUARTERS
      • WIND TRAVELER
      • HIRO
    • ENVIRONMENTAL
  • WIP BLOG
  • ABOUT
    • EXHIBITIONS
    • RESUME
  • CONTACT