Carolyn Cardinet: Visual Art Blog

First day Gleaning and harvesting the plastic trash found on the streets around my new studio Discovering my new surroundings, I walked for 1.1/2hour and have gathered a promising amount of found plastics objects.Such as: Black: Agi pipe Straw Take away coffee lid Window Rubber Shoe bow Corners Rubber Fork White: Packaging Straps Fork Straws Bottle Lid Mc Donald's drink cup lids Take Away coffee lids Industrial lid

Walking tour Footscray Today as a new resident, I joined a council walking tour of Footscray the tour led us from the Footscray Town Hall to Hopkins st bridge by Amanda Morgan then the wall painting that can be seen from the bridge intersection by  Conrad Bizjak  and then up to the library to see the tree lanterns by Jessica Kelly to end up at my  at #Artsboxmcc artist residency studio. Look up www.facebook.com/StreetworksMCC

Mapping Footscray through my walks Enjoy Bettle leaves on rice noodles for lunch packaged in a sustainable and compostable container Black: Knife  Bottle cap Bits Reflector White: Spoon Packaging strips Pipe Take away coffee lid Take away soft drink lid Straw Packaging strap

Taking shape This morning the 'Monument to Footscray', my ephemeral totems work is progressing. Putting together slowly but surelly the gathered #Plastics of my #FootscrayLife. In a week or so this work will be finished and ready to be displayed in #Footscray.

Another hot and glorious day today Starting the totem making and lining Working with the materials found Great to work with what you have and not what you can buy

A beautiful day in Footscray, further building my totems which I have lined with a different plastic lining each. Lots of people coming in the studio today!  Perhaps this is due to the article on Artsbox artist residency in the Star Weekly November 5, 2014 printed issue by Benjamin Millar and the lovely photo taken by photographer Joe Mastroianni as seen below. Read on:

Another Beautiful Day in #Footscray ! Enjoying the library for reference books Walking the streets for materials Building totems to connect old and new generations of the community living in Maribyrnong Black: Packaging Straps White: Packaging Straps T/A coffee cup lids Soft drink cups lids Bubble Wrap Food container lid  Lid Straws  Spoon Rope 

Had really lovely visitors today including Nick from Footscray West who talked to me about the old country- Italy....then an artist who 's work is in show at the Dax centre... Also a poet, Julian who is torn between his love of the word and the reality of working full time... Amazing to have the time to engage with people as normally in the solitude of my studio no one comes or is invited to come as making art take a lot of mind space and concentration to develop ideas, trying, failing, starting again, failing again, writing and failing. Therefor no one is actually welcome unless one is stuck so #artsboxmcc is a welcome change to explore further and further the market, the food, the area, the people, community and surroundings of #footscray, Today my pursuit was for large plastic sheets of #plastic wrapping/packaging material that I could possibly use to diffuse the light in my 'Monument to Footscray' or   totems structures. Happy to have found some and here the...

Extending my area of searching for waste i n #Footsray on a hot spring day. I can across these items including a seringe and a rice bag. Black: Hanger Coffee lid White: Rice bag T/A Coffee lids Packaging straps Spoon Straws Pipe Seringe T/A Soft drink lid Bottle caps

Jackpot in Footscray I have found a large amount of take away coffee and of soft drinks lids as well as many straws These will be mounted on the monuments I am creating to be displayed the Library courtyard after my residency. The work will be seen at night through the openings onto the carpark. Black: Take away coffee lids White: Take away coffee lids take away soft drinks lids Straws

Another day looking for the unnoticed and planning how all of the found may work together as Black & white installations Black: Packaging strips  Shoe hill Hanging device Knife Bottle cap T/A Coffee cup lid White: Packaging strip Straws Fruit packaging Bottle cap Pipe

Gleaning around I was surprised to fiund unusual pieces of machinery laying around. I also enjoyed looking at #BabyGuerilla paste up artworks adorning Footscrays's many red brick walls Black: Rubber Straw Bits T/A Coffee lids Bottle cap Wire Packaging straps White: Coat hanger Packaging beans Bottle cap 

Today looking for the unnoticed. I walked in the very hot weather to pursue a little breeze... I looked around #Footscray the site along the river and visited the gallery precinct Black: Seal Straws Coffee lids Bits Hanging device Rubber White: Polystyrene bits Coffee lids Straws Fork Bottle lids Soft srinks T/A lids Bucket handle Jose Packaging strap Drink bottles  Drink cup Packaging

A very hot day to work in the studio I decide to drive around as the bitchumen   is hot under my shoes. I glean areas a bit further from the studio and I collect. I wash and display the found in my studio. I record the created collections of similar shapes and colour and start thinking of displaying the found in patterns... Although the amount and the found will dictate that... Am only the manual and word facilitator in this project.  Black: Electrical cord Hanger Plastic bits Strip  White:  Shopping  bag Locked up bag Bubble wrap Coffee lids Soft drink lids Straws  Electrical wire

To be allowed to have the time to glean, reflect and play with an idea and have access any time to your own laboratory/studio is a gift to any artist Thank you for people in communities forseeing this need and providing this privileged time to create in a little known area and away from artists lonesome studios. Discovering different areas, experiencing the local food, engaging with communities and being exposed to the public during the making of the artwork will greatly influence the work process and outcome of the work. Creating engagement, exchange and even collaboration with the local community is an unforgetable experience for the maker. Plastic harvest of the day: Black: Sunglasses lense Screws Market lid Take away coffee cup lids Cable ties Several broken debris- un-identifiable bits Electrical cord with a white plug Pop up lid Washer White: Polystyrene cup Forks Bread ties Fruit polystyrene single protective netting  Take away c...