Chips Take Wing

No, I'm not flinging cow pies in the studio. I'm working on a piece called Night Owl, and want to use looping to create the wings. So instead of reaching for fabric to "audition" ideas, I reached for my bag of ChiPs.

 
I wrote about ChiPs last fall. These are things I could accurately call by another name that starts with C and ends with P, but choose not to. Instead of pitching my failures into the circular file, I tuck them into a heavy-duty zippered plastic bag. The uglier and more unsuccessful they are, the less resistant I am to cutting them up.

With a few snips and a scattering of ChiP fragments, I can see where and how I want to start the looping for the wings. I might even use a few of the fragments in the piece.

On Earth Day I wrote about other recycled materials I'm using in work for an upcoming show. After watching the video below about cotton production in Central Asia, I'm even more reluctant to reach for that bolt of muslin.


White Gold - the true cost of cotton from Environmental Justice Foundation on Vimeo.