PROCESS
How I made an unitentional generative art series.
With a mask and gloves to shield me from the bio-hazardous nature of my assets, I started to unravel the moldy art series in front of me. I felt a bit of what the teller at the bank probably felt the moment they laid eyes on this monstrosity. As mold spores sprung into the air I questioned whether the mask and gloves were enough, I labored on. One thing I quickly realized was how delicate they were, any amount of force would cause them to tear so there I was, like a surgeon, painstakingly sliding an x-acto blade between layers trying to get a result but embracing randomness and keeping my expectations in check. Slowly sliding the blade in and giving a slight twist, I had decisions to make; which ones should I separate and which ones should I keep together? I was uncovering magic in each layer and they all had their own unique creative value. Some would separate completely, while others adhered and fragmented creating a striking juxtaposition. It was like opening presents, each distressed frame was its own surprise and a fractal of the overall composition that was slowly revealing itself. There was SO much to feel during this process and I was taken with the filthiness and how it perfectly reflected the figurative filthiness of this fiat.
While I was uncovering the ‘code’ of the organic generative results, I was acting as the validator and creative mind synthesizing the brick of “destroyed” fiat into a curated art collection. Overall from the moment I buried that box to the moment I received the first artist’s proof everything had been born of my own intuition. There absolutely was art in both the precision required as well as the composition, but I had only a fraction of control, the natural elements get a lot of credit in the final output.
I am still in the process of directing the bills and making sense of the total body of work. I work best when experimenting and through this process I have begun to reveal the fractal that is ‘Filthy Fiat.’