Taking a Mindful Wander –

In our ‘Zoom Session 18’ Last week we talked about the concept of ‘Derive’ or ‘taking a derive’.  I hadn’t heard of this concept before and therefore I really wanted to explore it further.  I decided that I wanted to experience both a mental and physical derive, so I have produced 2 blogs on the work resulting from my wanderings.  The results from my physical wanderings, or should I say physical derive can be found here.

Each week usually on a Tuesday evening and after the weekly zoom session I produce little drawings which reflect my mood.  I used to draw them during my the zoom session but I became increasingly anxious about missing important information so it’s now solely an evening pursuit.  However, although I hadn’t realised it at the time, my little drawings were actually a form of mental derive.  Therefore I decided to use these little ‘derive drawings’ as part of a larger mental derive.   For many weeks now I have wanted to move my work into a more physical 3d realm but I wasn’t too sure how to achieve this.  Last week I had a failed attempt to produce some paper sculptures and I began to wonder if I could reuse this concept but to better effect this time?  Therefore, I decided to take my little ‘derive drawings’ on a larger derive of their own.

Whenever I produce physical art, I try wherever possible to use recycled materials or repurpose materials.  I knew that I had copious amounts of packaging and cardboard within easy reach.  I felt this would be a great opportunity to repurpose an old box into something else.  After printing out 12 of my 18 drawings, I sat with them for a while and considered how I could make them into something.  I assembled all the materials that I thought I would need and I just let my mind wander  – a form of mental derive.  At the end of my derive I felt that I would like to cut random sized circles from my drawings which I would then mount on cardboard from an old box.   There was no set pattern to my design or the shape or size of the circles.  This was an exercise in cutting and sticking at random, wherever the mood might take me.

Below are the results from my mental derive including process images.  Unlike my last failed attempt I was pleasantly surprised with what I achieved.  I enjoyed the process from start to finish.

Process Photographs

A Stand Made From Left Over Paper

Paper Sculptures Using Recycled Cardboard and Paper Scraps

Working with the Waste

After producing the sculptures above I was left with some interesting off cuts from my original images.  It seemed a shame to discard these, particularly as I was thinking in terms of recycled materials.  I began my mental derive again and decided to randomly reuse the leftover trimmings and card.

Process Images

Below are some of the process images as I began to reuse some of the waste materials.  As I was working I had no ‘vision’ or thoughts about an end point. I was allowing my mind to simply wander and experience the derive.   I began by gluing the discarded off cuts into my sketchbook. Once they were attached I proceeded to cut out more circles. I have also carefully stored this waste.