I thought I might take a walk today, or a run, but in the end I decided to watch the Boston Marathon and then experiment with different materials. Fun!
holes
A few more experiments: a plastic grocery bag (1); black netting (2)
1 — grocery bag
This material was difficult to cut and not as effective as the ziplock bag: effective = distorted, harder to read, creating a disconnection with the words
2 — black netting
I like the netting and the feeling of black. However, this netting was hard to cut! So hard that I couldn’t manage to cut the inner hole to expose the word/s of the poem. I should ask RJP for advice, or have her cut it. Examining the effect closer, I like it. Now I need to find out how to cut a hole into for the poem word! And, how should I attach this netting?
I asked FWA which version he preferred and he liked the lighter look with 2 layers. I can’t decide. It will probably be easier to decide when I figure out how to cut out the center and expose the words. Which one offers the better balance of emphasizing the poem word while not being too dark.
I asked Scott and he thought that working with black netting might be too difficult and that the look of it also had been done before. He’s a fan of the ziploc bag look. I like that look, but I don’t think it translates from a distance, and the “big picture” is part of what I’m trying to achieve. Also, as I told RJP, part of why I am doing these poems is to show what my vision is like as I read (and, if I’m being honest, to “prove” that it’s real and substantial). I’m still liking the netting most. Is there another material that could achieve a similar effect but was easier to work with? What about window screens? I like window screens because they are already framed. Could I find some used ones at ReStore? Does the screen offer enough of a distortion?
No time to look for screens today, so I decided to play around with the netting some more. I printed out the words and pinned them on top of 3-5 net holes. One of them has a lattice drawn under it, one is shaded in with pencil, a few have 3 holes, some four, one five. The hole with five also has the outline of the hole erased. Which treatment works best?
Impatient as I am, I quickly pinned the word to the nets to the paper and took the picture in full sun. It’s a bit messy and the shadows are obscuring part of the text. Even so, I like this effect! I’m looking forward to working on it some more tomorrow. Future Sara (or, Sara sent somewhere — still not sure if that works) also needs to figure out how to direct the viewer/reader to the order of the words of the poem. A number by each? A key with panel numbers next to the word?