Debate the Frame by Flitworth
January 12th, 2008 1:32 AM
I wanted to frame it. My walls need more love and this lovely letter is perfect because it pleases me greatly. I had considered purchasing a frame but I recalled seeing this task on the Praxis recently. As I never throw anything away I was certain I had the means to make something. I was right!
The base is a casing for whiskey that has long since been put to good use over ice. I coated that with wrapping paper then used some clear cellophane I had (yes, I just have these things around) to hold the letter in and protect it. I really didn't want to risk damaging the letter by putting it in contact with tape. Finally, I hung it from the Phone to Nowhere (or possibly it's a direct line to the mayor?) in my apartment.
The debate: is this frame an improvement on the traditional flat kind? While I like that my frame is hand-made and makes use of materials I had on hand I have to admit that it would be nice to be able to see the whole thing at once. However, this is one of the few ways to make the contents visible while avoiding anything markedly like the kind of frame one buys in the store. The cylinder is almost the perfect circumference for the letter and I slid wire through the center of it so that you can turn the cylinder freely while reading.
Mail is Wonderful
This letter was typed on a typewriter, which makes it doubly great. There is something so pleasurably Hemingway about typewriters. I think of artists and ex-pat authors. This was a very special missive.
Fire Water
Background
This is the wrapping paper I happened to have on hand. I used it to form the background.
The Letter
Phone to Nowhere
Finally that chunk of wall will be put to good use. I can't wait to see if my guests read it.
18 vote(s)
Lincøln
5
JTony Loves Brains
5
Sean Mahan
5
Spidere
5
High Countess Emily
5
Lizard Boy
5
susy derkins
5
Lank
5
miss understanding
5
Tøm
5
Jellybean of Thark
5
Augustus deCorbeau
5
Charlie Fish
5
Shea Wolfe
5
Fonne Tayne
5
Bex.
5
Minch
5
Selahsaurus
Terms
(none yet)12 comment(s)
I really love the scroll format frame... a frame you actually have to handle in order to see the entirety of the item framed. Give's me so many ideas.
Is that a working phone? If not, even cooler!
JTony: In order to answer your question I picked up the receiver for the first time since moving here. It plays a tinny version of Fur Elise. I am baffled. It is probably connected to whatever nefarious PA system occasionally plays Fur Elise and announces things (trash collection? a sale? North Korean missiles?) in my apartment. Alternately, the mayor is annoyed that I called then hung up on him.
Vote for:
1. What appears to be a type-written letter?
2. Phone to nowhere
3. Jameson (a fine Catholic whiskey)
Vote for:
shiny wrapping paper!
(that's really all it takes, though it's a clever frame too)
It's an unusual frame, but I'm quite distracted by the mystery phone. Can you dial out from the phone?
Frame with interaction! Muchly better! The main reason I don't do well in art museums is I can't touch anything. This is why I go to the Exploratorium.
Tell us more about the phone if you ever find out more about its behavior.
@ sean: is bushmill's a decidedly catholic or non-catholic whiskey? i have a taste for it but am often made to feel guilty when drinking it.
as in, "jameson's is cheaper! wtf?" -or- "what's with that? have some of this..." -or- "didn't you go to catholic school and learn how?"
my only association with bushmill's is that a woman from galway who served it in that city recommended it... but i've been loyal.
The short story is that Bushmill's is made in Northern Ireland (in a town named "Bushmills"), and Jameson is made in Dublin and Cork, Ireland. No idea of the religious affiliation of their founders, workers, owners (the same conglomerate owns both, incidentally), or anything else, but for some people North / South is enough to frame the comparison.
That's a nice and creative frame.