Page 53 - Wax Fusion Spring 2022 Issue 6 WIP v19

Deconstructing Perfection

Barb Cone

The Playtime store in Arlington, MA, just outside Cambridge, is

frozen in time. I doubt much has changed since the 1950s.

Customers are expected to step over open boxes and squeeze
past stacks of mystery supplies, but the basement is where the

real treasures are to be found: feathers in little cellophane
packages, ribbons and notions, popsicle sticks, little wooden

discs in dif erent sizes, silk flowers, Styrofoam, small glittery
beads, and my personal favorite,

Kraft paper boxes with lids.

I’ve never figured out what people use them for or make from

them, but they come in dif erent sizes and are well-made,
sturdy, and cheap. The selection depends on the day you’re
looking.

I started collecting them a few years ago because I liked them

as objects. I would add to my stash now and then, and they
lived in their big Playtime plastic bags under my worktable.

Several times I tried to make something from them. I tried

burying them in deep pours on my panels and created 3D
collages with them, but I wasn’t happy with the results.

In the meantime, I made other work, hoping that some way of

using the boxes would occur to me.

Fusion of Work and Dream No. 3, detail
Fir, hardware, Velcro, cardboard, steel wire, rust

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