Let’s make something with an empty toilet paper roll!
#TPProject2020
This project was something that came to me through brainstorming for my students. During my artist books classes, I suggested to create a work reflecting the time we were going through. This project could be lIke making a book with a found object except I took the freedom to pick an object for the classes; an empty toilet paper roll. As this is an ongoing project, I’d like to showcase the works of participants here as I have been doing on my Instagram pages as well (@yoonshin_park and @tpproject2020).
If you are interested in participating in this fun endeavor, please don’t hesitate to send me your submissions through my Instagram accounts mentioned above!
My hope is that this project become something that many artists can access and participate in as we all adjust to the growth of more individual creations during COVID-19.
Jenny Lau
“My perspective in this piece: We often times see a situation as black and white. The perception of an impending doom tends to be in the forefront of our minds. However, true situations are never just black and white. There are always shades of gray in which lines of invisible threads influence and intermingle. The way I see it is that this pandemic is all these shades of gray, black, white, and in between. We must remember to take everything into account in order to see the whole picture.”
Jennifer Mannebach
“My initial impulse was to see if I could simply extend the physical presence of the object without adding too much. Painting it white to make it more visible led to a stamped trace on the surface it was standing on. This made me think about how conscious we are now of where we go and what we might inadvertently pick up or leave behind. I punched holes in it for light to pass through. I tried to punch as many as I could before it lost its structural integrity (or until my hand hurt too much!)I remembered a few years ago when I was making sculptural mixed media pieces with a much heavier cardboard cylinder as a base. I grouped those around it, but left it solitary, not touching.”
Stella
“Last spring, I went to a park in the north side of Chicago, where I found an owl family. I promised them to visit again next year, but I haven’t been able to keep the promise due to COVID. Thinking of the baby owl, I made a paper owl using an empty bath roll. Hope I can meet the owl family soon again!”
Neil Ellis Orts
“As I looked at my toilet tissue tube, I knew I wanted to make some cuts and . . . then what? I was also intrigued with the book-making origins and as a writer, I wanted to have words on it, too. So I figured out the cuts I wanted to make, the folding from the cuts, and decided I wanted the writing to be as positive I could imagine in this time. I started with Peace and Joy and started to have those repeated. But I counted and I could at two words, all connected by "ands." So Peace and Love and Joy and Grace. (I wish I was a better letterer!) And finally, decided on hanging it. I had some black beads to add dimension to the tube. And the color scheme! Black and white may not be very "positive" but I'm very black and white about needing these words right now.”
TULIKA LADSARIYA
“The idea of being alone all day everyday with a delightful child is such an experience full of contradictory feelings: A rainbow squeeze, if you will, uncomfortable but joyous.
Shelter, something for which we are grateful but how it seems to get claustrophobic. Repetition in circles awards the much needed calm, but ultimately leads to ennui... The mattress underneath was made by my grandmother, handed down to me by my mother. A reminder of all that motherhood has been through generations; the foundation of all our relationships.”
EDEN ÜNLÜATA
"‘Interaction 6 Feet Apart.’ The work plays on the contradiction of reduced personal interaction due to social distancing and the expansion in the use of interactive technologies to bridge the distance. The toilet paper roll stands in as a reminder of our bizarre behavior full of contradictions.
The contraption allows audiences to draw on a surface attached to the toilet paper roll, and engage while remaining 6' away. But the entire staff is painted with chalkboard paint enabling an audience member to write anywhere, making the distancing effort a challenging one.”
ROBERT SHEEHAN
“portable biota poem | I started with the intention to make a möbius strip, but this evolved into a study of what shapes can and cannot be made with a TP roll. Though frustrating in the moment, the amount of time spent puzzling helped occupy my time in quarantine. The final cut is singular “string” of connected circles, similar to an accordion book, but lacking a uniform shape.
The title is an anagram of “bamboo toilet paper” and matte black exterior is Stuart Semple’s BLK3.0. The interiors are colors/papers I tried to use in other failed attempts at this project! (See failed attempts A, B, + C!)”
CONNIE NOYES
“A cocoon is a transition from and immature stage to a mature one - a metaphor for suspension into the unknown while waiting for a new being to emerge. The unknown is powerful as it holds unlimited potential. Wrapping objects or “cocooning” was a ritual I developed in the studio to meet grief but continues to inspire as I live in my own encasement of self-isolation. In this time our collective grief is palpable, but so is hope. Let’s hope. I wait. With you.”
TP Cocoon
Toilet paper roll, silver tape, elastic thread and wax.
SARITA GARCIA
Hyde Park Art Center Spring Artist Books class creation
MELISSA GILLIAM
Hyde Park Art Center Spring Artist Books class creation
Maria Rebelo
The TP roll for the little present box was painted with white gesso and decorated with some scraps of screen printed paper. Inside is a mini triangle book. Just folded the ends of the roll to make it look like a cylinder.
I am fascinated by weaving. The second book was made of rings of the TP roll that when folded measure 2,5". I used 8 pieces for each cover and put the book together with coptic binding. In the end I used the same colorful thread to make a few lines just so the covers had some color.
Kelly Rider
“3 toilet paper rolls become one object/sculpture that interlocks. I wanted to play with cutting, piercing, bending, folding, and reforming the tubes. The color is acrylic paint and ink, with the idea of the colors showing through and differentiating each piece.”
Karen Musgrave
“The toilet paper ran out and as I was going to toss the cardboard tube in the trash I was struck with the thought that I might be able to use it as a teardrop stamp. It worked! I have been exploring the teardrop shape for months with my friend Pete Conaway.”
