Mess project #4 - Break the Rules (Not Him Not Here)

This post is also rather late, due to my also travelling (separately from Lilly). I am home now, anyway, and managed to persuade my partner to assist me in making this mess. Let's start with a before picture:

Image shows an open book: left page shows poem composed of typical instructions about caring for a book. Right page says "Break the rules."

 Now, one of the first things I did with this page was to scribble out "Break the" and write in boldly "NO Rules!". In part, this was a sense of not being prepared to break all of the rules - I don't have any glue (and we already know how well golden syrup doesn't stick things down!), so "DO NOT STICK ANYTHING HERE" was going to be a hassle to break. So we broke the "Break the rules" rule, instead.

Do not cover up this type. Do not try to cover up this page. We scribbled. We covered things up. we wrote on it, drew on it, even edited it. Do not walk on this page with your shoes. Do not rub this page with dirt. Of course we had to get it muddy, and step on it. We went out of our way to find good stepping-on-it mud - not too wet, not too dry. Mud does wonderful things when you get a thumbful and swirl it.

Image shows an open book being stepped on with a shoe. The book has writing and scribbling in several colours, and smears of mud on it.

I'm almost a little ashamed we didn't manage to break all of the rules. I know we broke most of them, but I feel a little as if I haven't tried quite as hard as I might. Nevertheless, we had fun with this page. There are still oats falling out of this book. They've been joined by dirt. This book is making my life just that little bit more messy by its very existence, and that's not really in my comfort zone. It breaks my expectations and understanding of books. This book is very physical, beyond all other paper books, it is very demanding, and it is not capable of living in a bookshelf with my other books.

Image shows an open book with a printed poem on the left describing a set of rules on how to treat a book and "Break the rules" on the right. The pages are torn, have been scribbled on in red, black and green, have clearly had things spilt on them, have lumps and smears of mud on them and declares "this book tastes of oats"

Mess by Not Him & partner.

Mess project #4 - Break the rules (Lilly)

[Note from Lilly - this post and the last are late due to travelling on my part. Apologies - Mess Project #5 should go up on time this Wednesday]

A blackout poem, by Lilly

Left page: a lot of text is scribbled out using blue marker pen, leaving only the words to a poem showing. Right page:  handwritten text is copied below.

Love is dirt and red.
Walk on your dirt.
Fold down the corners of your friends.
Let a friend write
to cover up.

Hey,
I really enjoyed this assignment.
Break the rules.
I think it's a great one to start with, although I think I still went a bit too structured. In later weeks, I want to break free a bit more - even break free of grammatical convention.
Anyway, I had fun.
Can't wait to see what you do with this page!
<3
Lilly

This is the first page that I actually completed. I had a lot of fun replicating the blackout poetry style of Austin Kleon. It was a great one to start with - I wonder what NHNH did with hir version.

This mess completed in North-West England by Lilly.

Mess Project #3 - Drips and Splotches (Lilly)

[Note from Lilly - this post and the next are late due to travelling on my part. Apologies - Mess Project #5 should go up on time this Wednesday]

Image shows a spattered, dirty page, with text and images from other pages visible through the paper. Text reads "Drop some kind of coloured liquid (ink, tea, coffee) here from a good height (at least 5 feet)". Additional text at the bottom of the page reads "There is much beauty to be found in drips and splotches"

 Drips and splotches. I considered using ink, but I had coffee to hand, and was more willing to waste it. In retrospect, I sort of wish I'd used ink, because coffee doesn't seem to stain all that heavily. I lay the book on the floor of the bathroom to avoid making a mess of the carpet (I do prefer, however ironically, to keep the mess contained to the book where possible) and threw coffee at it from around head height. I'm five feet tall, or thereabouts, so head height was five feet away from the book.

I used the vacuum in a straw to pick up coffee, releasing my finger from the other end only when the straw was over the book. Three large splatters were enough for me. I enjoyed the way that they feathered at the edges, though like NH, I was a little frustrated by how wet the book became. I've left it propped open to dry out a bit.

Image shows the edge of a large coffee splatter on an off-white page. No text or other images are visible on the page.

This Mess completed by Lilly in San Francisco, California.

Mess project #3 - Drips and Splotches (Not Him Not Here)

Drips and splotches, coming right up! This was a rather soggy page of the Mess book, at least once the instructions were carried out. I carefully positioned the book near some stairs, with a rock to hold it open, and asked my flatmate to let fly with some stewed tea from my teapot from about 10 feet. Needless to say, the book's pretty wet. Aiming tea from 10 feet isn't the easiest thing we've ever done.

Image shows a spattered, dirty page, with text and images from other pages visible through the paper. Text reads "Drop some kind of coloured liquid (ink, tea, coffee) here from a good height (at least 5 feet)". Additional text at the bottom of the page reads "There is much beauty to be found in drips and splotches"

I confess, as time goes on, I'm less and less sure on where I can keep this book. It no longer belongs anywhere in a respectable home, and looks like it ought to be put in the doghouse. The entire book is wet and a little muddy from where it has been on the ground and poured tea on it from a height. It has oats falling out of it. How can it get muckier? I suppose it is called Mess for a reason...

I'm actually a little disappointed with this page. I was hoping for drips and splatters, but seem to have achieved soaking. Never mind, roll on next week!

Mess by Not Him.

Mess Project #2 - Something Sticky (Lilly)

Much messier than last week's page, I managed to stay within the rules while breaking them. While NH managed to subvert the rules by using golden syrup and oats, I used some of the materials suggested on the page itself; PVA glue and cocoa powder. I like the rich darkness that the cocoa powder brings, with its contrast highly visible on the opposite page where the cocoa has drifted.

Image shows an open book with cocoa powder all over it. Writing on the page reads "1. Cover this page with something sticky (glue, honey, etc.). 2. Drop a powdery substance onto the page (cocoa, flour, etc.). 3. Blow off excess". There is also a line drawing of a glue pot on the page.

In an effort to keep the mess 'messy', I spread the glue and cocoa with my fingers, then blew off the excess into the sink. I took the book outside to be photographed. As someone who normally likes to keep things perfect and pristine, who doesn't even like to bend the spine of a book, it excites me to have cocoa powder on the cover and down the sides of the pages of this book.

Like my sibling, I have my concerns about this book. Is it okay to have cocoa powder just... hanging out in my book like that? Will it make my room smell of chocolate? Will it make a mess of my other books? I hope not.

This Mess completed in North-West England by Lilly.

Mess Project #2 - Something sticky (Not Him Not here)

The previous page was very good fun, and by it's nature collaborative. This one I decided to keep to myself. The ingredients which came most readily to hand were flapjack ingredients, so here's the result:

Image shows an open book with oats all over it. Writing on the page reads "1. Cover this page with something sticky (glue, honey, etc.). 2. Drop a powdery substance onto the page (cocoa, flour, etc.). 3. Blow off excess". There is also a line drawing of a glue pot on the page.

I took the instruction to cover the page literally enough to justify using a knife to spread my squeezy, blobbed-out golden syrup, and totally ignored the "powdery" requirement - after all, this book is about creativity and breaking rules, so I feel justified in a little creativity around the rules on the page. 

Not to mention, if I had left the golden syrup as it was, it could have bled through to other pages. Not a problem in one direction - that page is done - but in the other direction I could have ended up with great difficulty completing my next task. In hindsight I regret this slightly, as the book is in part about letting go - but I can't and won't go back to try and fix it. I don't make any promises about doing better next week, either.

It's a slightly worrying thing, to have a book with oats and golden syrup in it. What if they get all over my bookshelf/book pile/general bedroom space? If it gets too hot will it run? Will it cook and fill the room with delicious flapjacky odours? Probably not that last one; I think that's my hunger talking, time to go eat.

Mess by Not Him.

Mess Project #1 - Bump this page (Not Him Not Here)

Well, what a start. I've been ill and barely left the house all day (i.e. a two metre leash would've worked just as well), so I waited until my ever-accommodating housemate got in to do this.

It was tremendous fun! She bumped me in entirely unexpected ways, turning me around and pushing the book up, and we were both in fits of giggles very quickly. I tried to start with a nice diagonal line, and you can see for yourself how that went:

Image shows an open book with many very wonky and wandering lines drawn across the blank pages in pen and pencil. Writing on the page reads, "1. While drawing a line, have someone bump this book. 2. Repeat numerous times."

I did this in a narrow little corridor next to my room, and I think it shows a little in how careful we both were.  I also drew the lines quite fast. Perhaps slowly would work even better? Next time (what next time?) I'll be sure to have more space. If this is the kind of ridiculous activity the book contains, this is a heck of a good start. It was hilarious, roll on next week's page!

Mess by Not Him Not Here, with assistance from hir housemate.

Mess Project #1 - Bump this page (Lilly)

Image shows an open book with many very wonky and wandering lines drawn across the blank pages in pen. Writing on the page reads, "1. While drawing a line, have someone bump this book. 2. Repeat numerous times."

I doubt that many people are often asked, 'hey, can you help me with a project for a minute or so? Just... bump me.' But that's the first page in Mess by Keri Smith, and so that's this week's Mess Project, #1. I asked my mother, whom I'm visiting at the moment. She looked at me oddly, but she complied. I have a feeling that there will be other projects which require us to make strange requests of people.

I started by doing vertical lines, which were easy-ish to make fairly straight despite the bumping (on the right side of the paper). Then I turned the book sideways and made horizontal lines, which wandered much more satisfactorily. I enjoyed making silly wonky lines, and I think this to be an auspicious start to our project.

This Mess completed in North West England by Lilly.