THEME
Objects Are Not Exhausted
CONTEXT
My immediate thought relating to this theme was crabs, specifically hermit and decorator crabs. Both of these species manipulate the objects in their environment to their gain, hermit crabs take shells and other ocean detritus as homes and decorator crabs adapt and change themselves to best suit whatever specific locale they inhabit. Hermit crabs in particular have an interesting relationship to humans and our discarded objects; trash on the beach can be transformed in context from waste to protection if a hermit crab chooses one as it’s new ‘shell.’
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-trash-homes-of-hermit-crabs
METHOD
Create a sketch and a colour layer in photoshop of a hermit crab interacting with some kind of trash, then merge the two layers and paint over the top without erasing, undoing, or adding new layers.
RESPONSE
I compulsively create and duplicate layers when I’m painting in photoshop so I have backups of my backups of my backups at all times. It was quite freeing to just start scribbling and accept wherever it ended up; my hermit crab may not look like a perfect crab but I like I was able to capture the likeness well enough that it is an acceptable evocation even if it’s not a technically accurate likeness.
