Two treats for you this week. I will run through the construction of my creative item, and I will be brave enough to tell you part of my Butter Mouse theory.
The most obvious adhesive for my Butter Mouse object was blu-tac. I have a gooey lump from the cork board sitting on my table like an abandoned meteor. After finishing the sketches, I laid my cards out in a T-shape and got to work.
I planned to make a square, or some kind of snake with blu-tac eyes. Instead I slid down the two horizontal cards, and bang, I had my design. With enough putty the cards form a frame solid enough to pick up. I had created a very basic cardboard axe. You can see it in the photo below.
For some of you, this may be four cards stuck together. But I thought I could cut a tree down. Pressure built in the air again, and my left arm filled with pins and needles. I am delighted with my prize.
In my mind, this is not a tool used for chopping woods on camping trips. I associate stubby axes like this with the Bronze Age and the Iron Age. In the process of my research, I discovered that Clifton itself was the site of an Iron Age settlement. There were others nearby on the far side side of the Suspension Bridge.
My construction is not an Iron Age axe. But that is what it is an abstraction of. It is the object I associate most with those times.
So, how does this tie into the Butter Mouse?
Remember, he hung out in Clifton, and often references the past, old technology, and the word iron. Now I hold something in my hand that ties into all those concepts. So did I make the axe because I've been considering this theory? Or did the reality of this theory put the idea of the axe in my head?
Is his book some sort of device for filtering ideas? If you read his words, and follow his instructions, will certain ideas occur to you, in the same way water will boil if you apply heat?
And what will happen if I continue?
You may think this is nonsense. But how many people actually bought his book, and then followed the creative recipes inside? A year is a big commitment. Maybe I am the only one.
My story follows next week. I must carry on until I find the answers.
