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Altered Curiosities: Assemblage Techniques and Projects
Step inside Altered Curiosities , where a wisdom tooth gets its own shrine, a honeybee lights up the room and a taxidermy eye becomes the eye in the back of
- GenresArtCraftsNonfiction
128 pages, Paperback
First published September 6, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
July 6, 2017
2.5 stars. On the one hand, I'm really glad this book was made. The aesthetic in this book is fantastic and I'm glad someone makes this type of art. On the other hand I found myself not really caring about the tutorials. They have simple steps like add the human teeth around the edge. As though we all have a stash of molars in the craft room. I love that it's odd, but please stop trying to half-assed instruct me on how you made a grandfather clock out of baby teeth and African porcupine quills (note that's not a project in the book).
July 13, 2017
I think that "Altered Curiosities" was meant to be an introductory book, but nearly every technique and project within requires some very advanced materials, such as: a full silversmithing setup, including soldering torch and stand, jewelry saw, and dapping tools; a pipe cutter; a drill with large router bits; a jigsaw; leftover framing store samples – and that's leaving out the more common items needed in most projects: patina, etching solution, resin, hand-sawn wood, and anvil-worked wire. Additionally, the techniques section is pretty slim and basic; most of the book comprises projects which are extremely specific, and given the unique nature of found objects, are therefore necessarily practically impossible to perfectly reproduce. Many of the projects also strike me as extremely impractical to the point of dangerous – both a bird feeder and a set of drawer pulls are spiked with rusty nails! Finally, while it will certainly appeal to some people, everything in this book uses very dark imagery and some very morbid materials, such as amputated doll parts, human teeth, and deceased bugs. Be forewarned if this sort of thing is not to your taste.
April 11, 2011
Author and artist Jane Ann Wynn offers inspiration, insight, and step-by-step instructions for turning common objects into uncommon artifacts. Even more importantly, she provides advice and lessons for artists looking to find their own voices, their own styles, and personal mythologies from which they can derive endless opportunities for interpretation and storytelling in their art.
This book is almost as good as taking a class with Jane (which is an experience I am happy to have under my belt and one I look forward to repeating some day).
This book is almost as good as taking a class with Jane (which is an experience I am happy to have under my belt and one I look forward to repeating some day).
April 29, 2018
Inspirational art book in desperate need of a decent editor. Several in fact. Look at the pictures and try not to read any of the words. Example: a picture of a piece of soldered metal in water is captioned with the instructions to “emerge the piece in water” rather than immerse or submerge. A technical editor could have fixed that. Would have fixed that, so I can only assume there wasn’t any editor.
Additionally, the parts where the artist was taking about her experience and inspiration were insipid and coy, and made me never want to talk to her in person, if she talks like she writes. Having a content editor would’ve done wonders here. Seriously, it was agony reading this book.
The book is also in need of a technical editor, a subject matter expert who could look at the projects and suggest better and safer ways to accomplish them. The projects are presented as if the reader already has a full small-scale metalsmithing studio (as well as a vast collection of weird found objects, like teeth). There are no instructions or advice about setting something up. I can understand not going into technical stuff like that if you want to focus on presenting the projects, but you have to assume novices will be picking up the book as well as experienced artists. So at the very least, give them a short shopping list or bibliography of books that will help them. If it’s in there, I missed it.
As to the weird objects, I think many people have collections of weird things that they eventually want to make into art. It’s odd to think of a book predicated on the concept of found-object art and its inherent randomness being so specific in its featured projects. It would have been interesting to see a bit more technical advice about attaching random things to other things. That’s the biggest challenge in this kind of creative process.
The only reason I can give even two stars to this book is that the photography and art direction are good. It’s an attractive book and I enjoyed the visuals. But as I stated earlier, don’t bother reading the words.
*Safety note: in one project we are told to solder on a brick because it conducts heat. First: you solder on a brick because it DOES NOT conduct heat (energy) and therefore makes a safe surface that will not get hot as you solder.
Second: the picture shows this project being soldered on what looks like a red brick, like those used for building houses. It is better to use high-refractory fire brick, like the ones used to build high temperature ceramic kilns, for soldering on. They’re not expensive and can be easily purchased from a ceramic or pottery supply.
This was not in the book but just in case you are trying to set something up at home DO NOT SOLDER ON CINDER BLOCKS. They have inclusions that will spark and explode out of the brick when heated.
Additionally, the parts where the artist was taking about her experience and inspiration were insipid and coy, and made me never want to talk to her in person, if she talks like she writes. Having a content editor would’ve done wonders here. Seriously, it was agony reading this book.
The book is also in need of a technical editor, a subject matter expert who could look at the projects and suggest better and safer ways to accomplish them. The projects are presented as if the reader already has a full small-scale metalsmithing studio (as well as a vast collection of weird found objects, like teeth). There are no instructions or advice about setting something up. I can understand not going into technical stuff like that if you want to focus on presenting the projects, but you have to assume novices will be picking up the book as well as experienced artists. So at the very least, give them a short shopping list or bibliography of books that will help them. If it’s in there, I missed it.
As to the weird objects, I think many people have collections of weird things that they eventually want to make into art. It’s odd to think of a book predicated on the concept of found-object art and its inherent randomness being so specific in its featured projects. It would have been interesting to see a bit more technical advice about attaching random things to other things. That’s the biggest challenge in this kind of creative process.
The only reason I can give even two stars to this book is that the photography and art direction are good. It’s an attractive book and I enjoyed the visuals. But as I stated earlier, don’t bother reading the words.
*Safety note: in one project we are told to solder on a brick because it conducts heat. First: you solder on a brick because it DOES NOT conduct heat (energy) and therefore makes a safe surface that will not get hot as you solder.
Second: the picture shows this project being soldered on what looks like a red brick, like those used for building houses. It is better to use high-refractory fire brick, like the ones used to build high temperature ceramic kilns, for soldering on. They’re not expensive and can be easily purchased from a ceramic or pottery supply.
This was not in the book but just in case you are trying to set something up at home DO NOT SOLDER ON CINDER BLOCKS. They have inclusions that will spark and explode out of the brick when heated.
September 21, 2018
“Altering toys is a lot like playing doctor without the ethics or rules! I get a thrill from bending the rules of nature by removing a head or a hoof from one toy body and replacing it with another to make something more unique!”, writes Wynn. This author reminds me a lot of Sid from Toy Story. Even the creepy doll on the front cover looks like one of Sid’s creations.
Picture would be inserted here - if I knew how. Btw does anyone know if this is possible on Goodreads?
With the odd pictures on the cover, I couldn’t pass up such a unique book. Especially because Halloween is approaching, I look for anything a little eerie/spooky.
Picture would be inserted here - if I knew how. Btw does anyone know if this is possible on Goodreads?
With the odd pictures on the cover, I couldn’t pass up such a unique book. Especially because Halloween is approaching, I look for anything a little eerie/spooky.
January 27, 2018
Her techniques are brilliant, one-of-a-kind (after reading the book, you’d be able to pick her work out of a line up) and while her ability would be difficukt if not imposdible to replicate, her instructions, techniques, and ideas are not.
October 25, 2021
Certainly intriguing, and the step by step projects, although being personal to the artist, does give you some thought on how you might set about achieving your own installation.
December 1, 2024
Way too dark, macabre & outright creepy for me!
February 21, 2008
Yes, you too can seamlessly create two headed creatures from ordinary toys you might have on hand! Lots of inspiration here, and a more than a little bit of permission to be wacky. The end results are pleasing and artistic and not at all as "goofy gothic Frankenstein" as creating a two headed creature may sound.
This is an interesting book for recycling ephemera into unusual assemblage projects: shrines, pendants, tokens, drawer pulls, hair sticks, altered toys...(My favorite pieces were the drawer pulls and wisdom tooth shrine.) Nails, teeth, bullet casings and dead bumblebees are just the beginning of the materials used. Fun visuals for inspiration and a fairly comprehensive guide on such necessary techniques as soldering, binding metal with epoxy, etc. to create desired results.
Many interesting ideas for projects without being precious or too cliche as these sorts of things go. A sense of the "beautifully ugly" aesthetic -- with a little of the odd and slightly uncomfortable-- (as in much the same way taxidermy is a strange, often inexplicably fascinating depiction of something that once held a former position in life). Some of these ideas leave me with that sort of strange, creepy haunting: a nice reminder that unconventional statements are at the heart of art and allow things that might otherwise be dismissed to live on!
(Four stars instead of five because I would've liked to have seen a greater variety of scale in the projects. These were all pretty diminutive.)
This is an interesting book for recycling ephemera into unusual assemblage projects: shrines, pendants, tokens, drawer pulls, hair sticks, altered toys...(My favorite pieces were the drawer pulls and wisdom tooth shrine.) Nails, teeth, bullet casings and dead bumblebees are just the beginning of the materials used. Fun visuals for inspiration and a fairly comprehensive guide on such necessary techniques as soldering, binding metal with epoxy, etc. to create desired results.
Many interesting ideas for projects without being precious or too cliche as these sorts of things go. A sense of the "beautifully ugly" aesthetic -- with a little of the odd and slightly uncomfortable-- (as in much the same way taxidermy is a strange, often inexplicably fascinating depiction of something that once held a former position in life). Some of these ideas leave me with that sort of strange, creepy haunting: a nice reminder that unconventional statements are at the heart of art and allow things that might otherwise be dismissed to live on!
(Four stars instead of five because I would've liked to have seen a greater variety of scale in the projects. These were all pretty diminutive.)
January 28, 2008
Chock full of techniques for found-object and junk-object collage and jewelry makers. I'm not as crazy about her finished projects as I am for other artists, but she really does a great job of conveyer ways of getting things done.
January 30, 2008
Don't let the creepy cover fool you. I put off getting this one from amazon but saw it at the craft store and flipped thru and ooohed and ahhhed. It is full of neat techniques, one of which is making things look like metal and then adding different patinas. Also a technique that teaches you how to make your own molds and doo dads from the molds. Lots of different stuff inside i want to try!!!
September 3, 2008
I might have liked this more if I didn't feel so overwhelmed by the projects and the cost of making the projects. I looked at ceramic baby dolls this weekend and even tiny ones were really expensive.
The pictures of the projects were interesting.
I think this book would be good for people who are a little less afraid of crafting and more open to trying anything than I am.
The pictures of the projects were interesting.
I think this book would be good for people who are a little less afraid of crafting and more open to trying anything than I am.
December 9, 2008
Pretty good how-to of various assemblage techniques. I wasn't as interested in the jewelry projects, but the other project were interesting. It isn't something I'm feeling drawn to pursuing ,but it was good to read about this artists' process and motivations. Also, now I have a better idea of how to work with resins.
December 2, 2007
This is the perfect book to help you create little, dark masterpieces. You know, for those times you have to visit your local taxidermist for the perfect sparkly rabbit eyes that will complete your project.
April 9, 2014
This is an excellent book for people who really want to know how to make these sorts of shadow box/ found object projects. This is definitely not a glue gun project sort of book. There's a lot of working with metals and such, but she gives really thorough instructions and tips
February 9, 2008
This book has some really great techniques and projects. Really interesting, off the wall stuff like I like. I probably won't cut pipes or make my own resin, but it's got some great stuff
April 25, 2008
Lots of challenging projects (for me anyway) which I may or may not try this year. I have yet to experiment with two-part epoxy or resin or make a bezel, etc.
February 3, 2009
Resin.
Assemblage resources list in back.
Assemblage resources list in back.
June 22, 2011
Techniques and projects for creating assemblages. Interesting read and well photographed.
November 5, 2011
Inspiring.
August 21, 2012
This is an odd little book, thought it does show that anything is available to make a art piece from. Lots and lots of ideas to take from and some different techniques to learn.
April 4, 2015
Awesome. Totally inspiring. Easy to follow and do.
June 21, 2008
I am eagerly waiting for this book to arrive in the fall-
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews