The discarded made beautiful

An economic recession (global as well as national) might provide an opportunity to creative people like us. Art movements spring from these economic conditions (Dada, Abstract Expressionism etc.). After two 'glamorous', beautifully produced book projects by Freelance in the last five years, 'Blank page' and 'He opened his eyes...', could Freelance members participate in something less precious, more disposable?

Here are some of the ideas around which we will build a project:-

1. Waste produced by society; recycling of "useless" stuff (something which one member has been exploring since /blankpage) as a source material.
2. Discarded materials; interesting surfaces.
3. Miniature work.
4. Is there a need for a theme (e.g. The Alphabet) - or will the agreed structure of the project provide the theme?
5. Temporary work; cheap or free to create. Example: if we cut up a newspaper into squares, what could each member do with one square (we have the use of our photocopier to focus on printed content, produce images/multiples etc.)? Flat or three-dimensional?
6. Single items rather than multiples / published edition? Perhaps to be given away free? Option of taking photographs of pieces, producing postcards of them as collectables? Perhaps Waterstones, the Town Galleries and Mansion could sell them? Producing postcards might run counter to the spirit of the initial idea.
7. Could produce a pack of loose work.
8. Exhibiting the work. We intend to show the "work/s" in a gallery in Ipswich in 2011. The works will be affordable, adventurous (hopefully), in an "out-of-the-box" show which with the right launch/publicity should prove popular with those who "can't afford art".

Over the coming months members of Freelance will develop this idea, of  "The discarded made beautiful". The ongoing development will be reported on this blog.