Elevating the Box: Assemblage Workshop

Join Kim Garretson in creating an assemblage box reflecting your artistic talents and expressing your passions and points-of-view about well, almost anything. We'll do a deep dive into the incredible assemblage box creations of Joseph Cornell and contemporary assemblagists and their boxes. In our first class you'll bring found artifacts and also select from an array of our supplied found artifacts and unpainted boxes such as wood wine crates that 'speak to you' and your initial ideas for your boxes. In the second class you will augment your boxes with additional found artifacts and refine your focus on the pieces. We'll have a fun interactive session where you can present your boxes.

Joseph Cornell was an American visual artist and assemblagist who elevated the box to a major art form in the 1940 and 50s. His boxes contain found materials and are "romantic, poetic, lyrical and surrealistic".

We will examine the details of some of Cornell's most famous boxes, but you can learn more about Cornell's history at this link, especially the YouTube videos: https://bit.ly/3EkkXNP

About the Instructor: Kim Garretson is an assemblagist whose studio, Cocktail Twist Assemblage Art, features assemblages that are often humorous and thought-provoking. His assemblages are displayed in restaurants and bars and used in brand marketing campaigns.

Supplies for the first session:

1. Artifacts and ephemera you might want to include in your box: photos, printed materials, small items such as keys, shells, toys, and vintage and antique items. Please limit your treasures to a shoe box full of personal miscellaneous items as the instructor will have others to augment the ones you may bring.

2. Glue (I prefer E6000 available at hardware stores and Michael's). Also, bring a glue gun and glue if you have one, but these will be available at the sessions.

3. Scissors and/or X-Acto knife.

4. Notebook/Sketchpad and pencil

5. A Box. Note: The instructor will have a supply of wooden boxes for purchase from between $5 and $10, as well as a collection of found items to augment your own. You can also bring your own box, such as a wood wine crate, but it should be sturdy, and not made from cardboard or plastic. Please make the dimensions no more than 18” x 24” and 4” deep.

Note: you will likely be painting or finishing your box and we will discuss these options in the first session.

Host or Publisher Artists Council