What you don't see is what you get.

(Note: click on an image to enlarge.)

(View looking in peep hole on the door.)

As I continue to create my latest piece titled "Box of Doom", it occurred to me, I am probably spending almost as much time working on the back of the door as the front. At first, I was amused by this. Here I am spending so much time on a view most people will never take the time to look at. (It would be interesting to be the fly on a wall to see how many people actually walk around the door to look at the back.)

Then the thought struck me. As an assemblage artist, it's the construction of a piece that can bring me the most satisfaction. There is a distance between the idea and the construction of that idea. I can spend an hour sometimes, looking for that just right screw to make the attachment I need to make. Yet, when I find that screw, the distance is met, adding another layer of completeness to the piece which may never be realized by anyone else but myself.

A side note: I made the decision years ago, to not use glue unless the situation called for it. Too easy to just glue here, glue there. It short cutted (poetic license) the problem solving process for me. Not to mention, glue never gives me the satisfying feeling of permanence.

I suggest the next time you look at an artist's assemblage piece, not only enjoy the concept/idea/message of the work, but also muse "look how they decided to attach that piece to that piece..."

It's part of the art, it is the art.

Self reminder. This thought looms larger than the "Box of Doom". When I look at the "front" of something in life, maybe I should take another moment to also look at the "back". The construction of what I am looking at. Maybe then, I can have the opportunity to really understand/comprehend what I am looking at.

Possibly it's what I can't see that makes all the difference?