DisCo DisCovery

In January of this year I put a call out on my blog to other artists to join an online project called the Disintegration Collaboration (DisCo). The idea was simple: create an artistic bundle made from materials of their own choosing and “hang, bury, submerge, or just place” the bundle in the elements. This collaboration was to be with the ultimate partner…Mother Nature herself!

A little background for you. The impact of time on both nature (think the budding and blooming of a plant) and man-made objects (think the rusting of a metal washer dropped in the street) has always been fascinating for me. In my mind, there is intrinsic beauty in evolution, in change, and even in decay. I am far from the first person to do something like this, but I thought it would be interesting to apply this natural process to art.

Symbolically, I feel that aging, disintegration, and decay are natural parts of evolution which create something of value and are not necessarily endings, or things to be discarded or dismissed. To me this relates to our own aging, to the value of recycling and repurposing, and to the recognition of the beauty of weathered and distressed objects – be they a rusty fence, a wall with peeling paint, or ourselves!

PART ONE
123 artists answered the original call and posted photographs of their bundles on their blogs. You can click here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here to be taken to previous posts on my blog that showcase many of the bundles.

Here are just a few examples:




PART TWO
Bundles of every imaginable material, shape, and color were hung, tied, buried, and submerged all around the world. Nature worked her magic with snow, rain, hail, sun, wind, earth, fire, and water - interacting with and disintegrating bundles of bundles. We all watched and waited. On May 1, participating artists began to retrieve their bundles to see the impact of nature. For some it was subtle. For some it was dramatic. And for some, their bundle was gone, either through nature's hands of human hands. In the end, 96 artists posted their "after" pictures. The links to each one can be found on the sidebar of my blog under the Disintegration icon.

Here are just a few examples:




PART THREE
But there was more. As a means of symbolically reflecting the re-creation that often follows dis-integration in nature, all artists were asked to create a new artwork using some or all of the disintegrated materials from their bundles. And today is the start of the reveal! Their ultimate creations are as varied and exciting as their original bundles.

As artists post their artwork, I will add links below. Click on each link to be taken to their post and feel free to leave a comment so they know you visited. If you are a blogger who has posted their artwork and you do not find your name on the list, please email me so I can add your link. Please note that soon these links will be transferred to the sidebar of my blog and will always be easily accessible!

Sun Soul Art Thoughts 08/01/09
LaWendeltreppe 08/01/09
Debrina's Diary 08/01/09
opening connecting 08/01/09
Lani Puppetmaker's Blog Spot 08/01/09
Jazzgoil Ink 08/01/09
Memories of Mine to Thine 08/01/09
Second Nature 08/01/09
Art Propelled 08/01/09
Ink Haven 08/01/09
Just a Note 08/01/09
Cinnamon Studio 08/01/09
Altered Book Lover - Part 1 08/01/09
Altered Book Lover - Part 2 08/01/09
Marianne's Art Blog 08/01/09
Lucky Dip 08/01/09
4 Rooms and the Moon 08/01/09
Truly Spacious 08/01/09
Caroline at Coastcard 08/01/09
theresa mARTin 08/01/09
BT - The Crafty Gardener 08/01/09
Fran Meneley 08/01/09
Christine Marie Art 08/01/09
Found Memories Art 08/01/09
Papieren Avonturen 08/01/09
n2theblue 08/01/09
Expression Studio 08/01/09
Pentamento 08/01/09
Fully Flummoxed - Part 1 08/01/09
The Land of Lost Luggage 08/01/09
The Weaver of Grass 08/01/09
Where I talk about Art 08/01/09
Gillian McMurray 08/01/09
Art in Redwagons 08/01/09
POGA Art 08/01/09
Mick Mathers Art Blog 08/01/09
Beelieve 08/01/09
Lynn - Getting my Feet Wet 08/01/09
Corrine's Altered Art 08/01/09
Magpie's Nest 08/01/09
Primfixins 08/01/09
One Day at a Time 08/01/09
JazWorks 08/01/09
Creative Rebel Gal 08/01/09
Rodrigvitz Style 08/01/09
Hermine's Place 08/01/09
This I Didn't Know 08/01/09

Be...Dream...Play... 08/02/09
Ruth Rae/Judy Wilkenfeld 08/02/09
River Garden Studio 08/02/09
Rosa & Josie's 08/02/09

Artisticaneum 08/03/09
Altered Bits 08/03/09
Creatively Anew 08/03/09
Fully Flummoxed - Part 2 08/03/09

Dryadart's Weblog 08/05/09

In the Name of Art 08/06/09

Two Dresses Studio 08/07/09
Art-ticulation 08/07/09

Artfully Ooglebloops 08/10/09

World of Joy 08/14/09

Stamping Rika 08/15/09

The Artful Eye 08/17/09

Bohemian Caravan 08/24/09

Artsortments 08/26/09

Writing from Life 08/27/09

Ro Bruhn 09/01/09

Mixed Media 09/08/09

While the initial plan was to have all artists post on August 1, many of the participants (including myself)will be posting later in the month instead. Please check back often to see the updated list. As you can see, I have included the date I added each link to the list so that it is easier to track which blogs you still need to visit.

Enjoy! And thank you to everybody involved!