And it begins....

Last week I posted the challenge on Facebook:

Hey Facebook friends- I am working on a new project and need your help! I am looking to build another chandelier/light fixture out of found objects. What I need from you, my loving friends, are the objects. I am looking for ten people to bring me one object each that I will then incorporate into my fixture. I will provide the electrical components. This is a challenge to myself as an artist, so feel free to get creative! I would like the objects within one week- so by Wednesday the 12th. If you are interested in helping me with this challenge, please respond here. The first ten will provide my objects! I will provide updates and finished pictures as I progress with the chandelier. Thank you in advance- Blesty

Literally within minutes of posting my request on Facebook, I had a commitment!  Over the course of the next three hours, ten people stepped forward in excitement to take part in this experiment.  Honestly, I was blown away with the rapid support.  I wasn't even sure if ten people would come forward to provide me with objects, and I really thought it may take up to a week to get that many commitments.  I wasn't ready for such a speedy response!  In fact, more than ten people tried to get in on the action!  I found that I had to actually dissuade extra people from trying to participate.  This wasn't a request for stuff after all, as the picture of my basement testifies, I have plenty of that!  For me, this was an effort to impose limitations, therefore I wanted to stick with ten.

That night I decorated an old crate I had, to put out on my front porch in order to provide a receptacle for the objects.  This way my volunteers could deliver the objects at their own convenience.

This was Wednesday night, on Friday, a snow storm blew in.  Any amount of snow is enough to shut down the entire city of Portland, and this was actually a fairy large storm for us.  The storm managed to shut down the city for the entire weekend and into Monday.  While this was a great amount of fun, (Portlanders LOVE a good snow day!), it did mean that by Tuesday the 11th, my poor little Objects de Art crate was sadly empty.  So I extended the deadline until that Friday to give my volunteers some necessary time to get it together!  After the extension, the goods started to role in!  It felt like Christmas!

Goodies!

Even with the extension, some didn't get their items in until Saturday... fashionably late, I guess.  And one didn't come through, sadly.  But nine people brought an amazing array of items.  I can't wait to get started.... but first, I think I need to clean and organize the ol basement work space!

The Struggle

     Lately, I have been struggling as a designer to find and keep my inspiration.  I started this year off strong, making two beautiful chandeliers.  The act of creation stimulated me so much that I created a whole business around the selling of housewares.  Starting with an online Etsy shop: (https://www.etsy.com/shop/BlestIndustrial?ref=si_shop), my business quickly grew into physical space, and I am now selling out of a booth at the Monticello Antiques Marketplace in Portland.  Unfortunately, my inspiration to design has dried up.  I go down into my work space and just feel overwhelmed.  Admittedly, the basement, where my work space is, has become over crowded with the influx of stuff from my new business endeavors, as well as quantities of stuff I have collected with which to build new chandeliers.

I'm beginning to feel like a bit of a horder....

     The worst part, is that even with all this stuff, I find myself unable to start a new chandelier.  In fact, I believe it is because I have collected too much stuff.  The possibilities are unlimited.  For an artist, however, unlimited possibilities are not necessarily a good thing.  All one has to do is look at the Star Wars movies to see this principle in effect.  The first three, when George Lucas was working with a limited budget and limited special effects technology, changed not just how movies are made, but the very culture that we live in.  The last three movies, when he had everything he could possibly want at his finger tips, had a much more minimal impact.... to put it nicely.  While ruminating on the nature of limitations, sitting alone in my basement work space, I've also realized that I spend far too much time by myself.  So I've decided to try an experiment.  I am putting out a call to my Facebook friends, asking for ten people to commit to bringing me one object each.  From these ten items, I will attempt to craft a beautiful (fingers crossed...) chandelier.  I did not put any limitations on what they may provide or what constitutes an object.  These objects, I hope, will give me some needed limitations, as well as challenges (who knows what I may get!) that will guide me as designer.  I will provide all the electrical components, any binding agents, and a base structure if necessary.  I have no idea what to expect, or even if any of my friends will care to take part in this experiment.  But I am hoping that this not only re-stimulates my creative fire, but also helps me connect more with my community.