Found Art

On some level, all art is found art. What is typically referred to as "found art," though, simply follows a more direct process. It arrives already created, or at least almost so, in most cases. Here’s an example from my own experience…

I had just finished at the gym one day and was walking to my car. As I approached the car, I happened to look down, and there at my feet was an old shoelace--probably a remnant from someone’s just-as-old gym shoe. But just as it is ordinary paint that makes both mundane art and masterpieces, this shoelace, ordinary as it was, had fallen into the most interesting pattern. Dampened by drizzle, stiffened by sun, flattened by the tires of countless unaware cars, pocked with grit and perfectly frayed at both ends…I found it to be surprisingly beautiful!

As an artist, one of my primary tasks while painting is to protect beauty once it appears on my canvas so as to keep it from unwittingly being undone by further work. So with the shoelace, I lovingly peeled the work of art from the pavement so as not to undo what had been so beautifully set in place.

Once home, I enjoyed so much what I had found that I mounted, signed and framed it. Subsequently, others shared my enjoyment as well. My humble shoelace subsequently made multiple trips from the West Coast to the East Coast where it was accepted to be exhibited in gallery and museum shows. It's title...By Magic. (This piece is shown below.)

The whole story of the shoelace is very much like the story of art making. A gift comes magically from somewhere. An artist accepts it, loves it, then passes it on.

--Don Haggerty

By Magic
Frayed shoelace--dampened by drizzle, stiffened by sun, flattened by the tires of countless unaware cars, pocked with grit.
14 1/4" x 17 1/4" (framed size)

Dream Catchers
Wash tub drain lint
10"H x 8"W

Studio Wipe I
Paper towel, oil bar paint
7"H x 6"W

Studio Wipe II--The Artist's Hand
Paper Towel
7"H x 6"W

Take a Bow
Frayed cord
9"H x 6"W

Hair Tie Plum
Hair Tie
2 1/2"H x 1 1/2"W

Goofy String Great Value
Crushed metal canister
4 1/4"H x 2 3/4"W x 1/2"D

Road Runner
Barrel clasp and frayed cord
7"H x 3"W

Road Runner (detail)
Barrel clasp and frayed cord

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