Recycling older sculptures

So the piece called flag is still developing. When I started it I was excited I finally found an interesting way to use the wings. There is an issue with some of the objects that I find they will sometimes overwhelm a sculpture. I have had these wings for about seven years, I cannot recall where I found it but I believe it was the trash in East Boston. I have tried to use the item multiple times but each time it was too much for the sculpture. Finally it seems to blend real well here. I do need to work on the side if the wood holding the wings and am not certain about the exact placement of the “nailed pennies” but as you read on you will see they are part of a concept.

Interesting tidbit about the nailed pennies, those were retrieved off a sculpture that I dismantled. Not only do I recycle items found on the street but I recycle my own sculptures that seem bland or no longer speak to me. The recycled piece was from my days at the museum school and was in reference to an interesting article I read that spoke about pennies and the fact that it cost more the one cent to make each penny. Funny we are still throwing money away on them now. I have read that it costs 1.26 to 1.7 cents to make one penny depending on the price of zinc and copper. Here is a link about how much it costs to make a penny. While the older piece was just about decreasing value of currency this piece speaks more to hording as a result of this decreased value. It refers to the mentality that you need to spend to stimulate the economy but then the need to hold on to that cash for your personal well being. There is a constant battle being played out in our economy where it is stimulated by spending but the ones that save seem to be the people that come out ahead.

After writing about this I think that the title "Flag" may not relate enough to this piece. I need to come up with a better title. The concept of “Flag” came from the basic structure of the pennies in the sculpture with the pennies forming a circle like that in the early Bettsy Ross flag. I also have arranged the pennies to point outwards as the stars the flag do. I like this aspect but it is not what the piece is about