This particular work is a follow up from a previous piece I did, collage swatches, 2019, which is basically composed of the same material/s (found cardboard cutouts, nuts & bolts) as to this present one. The difference is that the former is static, meaning it doesn’t have any movable/moving parts as compared to this current piece.

 

The idea comes from the widely recognized multi-tool pocketknife, also famously known as the swiss army knife. It generally has a main blade plus other blades and tools such as screwdrivers, a can opener, and many others. This work on the other hand has colored cardboards, cut into different shapes and forms. Like the swiss army knife, these attachments are stowed inside the wooden handle, through a pivot point mechanism.

 

The theme of the show revolves around the idea of the project itself being portable, with it (along with the other works from the show) traveling from a viewer’s residence who wants to participate, to another. Because of that, I decided to make a wooden box that encase the work while it travels. Aside from being a box, it also acts like the stand or a mini stage for this piece, for when you play and interact with it.

 

The concept of the work is that the participants can pull out the carboard cutouts, and create and compose different “collages” or forms with the given shapes by stacking them, while being restricted by the limited radius where the cutouts can move and rotate to. The results offer viewers the opportunity to become active participants in the piece’ arrangement and interpretation. With the work having X numbers of possible compositions, it would be great if they can document their versions or interpretation of the piece, while also sharing them online (tag me! @miguel82x). Aiming that this process or mechanic will result to different variations of the work so that other audiences that may have a glimpse of them online, see it differently every time. I hope that somehow, with the given time, this work brings even a little bit of light to the participants that interact and play with it.