The Oracle Shrine of Ottas ....
Oct. 4th, 2007 06:49 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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craftgrrlMy latest assemblage piece is titled "The Oracle Shrine of Ottas".
(behind the cut this post is quite image heavy)
The only thing that I knew was that I wanted to alter an old toaster, one of the older style ones with the rounded corners and top but do you think that I could find one? I searched in my local recycle center, op-shops, on an online auction site and I even asked around to see if anyone I knew had one, but no luck. After almost deciding to give up on the idea I ended up finding one that would do, it wasn't as old as I would have liked but it was the closest toaster that I could find in the shape that I was after.
Isn't it cute? Very rounded and almost art-deco in style. It cost me $4 from the recycle center.
So the the title of the assemblage piece, "The Oracle Shrine of Ottas". The whole piece is and can be whatever you like, it does however have a meaning and is what I based the idea for the piece around.
An oracle as according to the Webster Online Dictionary;
or·a·cle Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin oraculum, from orare to speak 1 a : a person (as a priestess of ancient Greece) through whom a deity is believed to speak b : a shrine in which a deity reveals hidden knowledge or the divine purpose through such a person c : an answer or decision given by an oracle 2 a : a person giving wise or authoritative decisions or opinions b : an authoritative or wise expression or answer
and a shrine being;
shrine
1 a : a case, box, or receptacle; especially : one in which sacred relics (as the bones of a saint) are deposited b : a place in which devotion is paid to a saint or deity
With this knowledge the toaster becomes a very wise and knowing ancient fortune box. Who knew that a toaster could be so wise! The word "Ottas" is really just one of the quirky elements that I like to add into my work. Which in english means that the word 'Ottas' is really just an anagram of 'toast'.
There is a secret drawer in the shrine and when you discover it you will learn of the wise words of "Ottas".
"I am Ottas the Oracle Shrine I have been gifted with the vision of wisdom and prophecy. Only you are in control of your own destiny, I can however help to guide you in your quest if you so desire."
YOUR FORTUNE AWAITS ....
On one of the ends of the oracle shrine sitting above a rusted spring there is a small flap that unhooks and flips down to reveal a number spinner. To discover you fortune number you spin the red pointer and whichever number it lands on is to be your fortune as told by Ottas.
You then match your fortune number with the corresponding number on the fortune cards and select your fortune.
The fortune cards are numbered from 1 to 6 and tell of your fortune.
The fortunes are below;
Fortune Number One: "When you reach the top, keep climbing"
I have used one of my photographs of a tree that is reaching up to the sky. The fortune is suspended by copper wire and hangs from a twig that was covered in green lichen that I found in my garden.
Fortune Number Two: "The love of a family is life's greatest blessing"
I covered this fortune card with old wallpaper and aged it with ink. The family photo hangs from a chain and a hook.
Fortune Number Three: "Beauty surrounds you"
Photo is of a golden lily. I 'grunged' the photo in PSP before I printed it and then I burnt the edges. The photo is sewn onto frayed vintage material that is full of many colours to portray the notion that beauty comes in many colours.
Fortune Number Four: "Regret for wasted time is more wasted time"
This photograph is of a sundial that I took down at the beach, I also burnt the edges of this one. The verdigris wire spirals were from an old windchime that broke. The photo is sitting on many layers of tissue and textured paper that I aged with ink , coffee and paint. The fortune quote is backed by a piece of shorthand text that I tore from an old book. The shorthand text refers to a passage of time.
Fortune Number Five: "Be weary of a dark stranger"
This photograph of the dark stranger was a copyright free image that I found on the net. I added some dust and scratches and gave him a bit of a makeover by darkening his eyes in PSP before printing. The fortune words sit on some rusted metal mesh that I found at the recycle center lying on the ground out in the yard. It was so brittle that I had to be careful not to break it. I stapled the words on using copper staples.
Fortune Number Six: "It is often the last key on the ring which opens the door"
The old suitcase key sits in the opening of an old copper gasket. I attached the key with copper wire that is suspended from ice-block sticks. I added texture to the round opening and other random parts of the gasket and painted it. I have used a piece of old patterned glass and also a strip of a rusted builder's measuring tape.
The following photos are close-up detail photos of some of the elements of the piece.
I inserted a dictionary meaning of the word "fortune" and "fortuneteller" and covered it with wire.
Sitting near the top of the oracle shrine is an old teaspoon with a barcode set into the spoon indentation, on the other end sits a photo of a man, could it possibly be Ottas?
A detail photo of the lacing that is around the holed metal leaves. You can also see some rounded bubbles that protrude from the side of the shrine. Beneath the bubbles are fortune words, things like; love, wish, money, family and dream. At the top of the words are a set of eyes watching over everything.
This is an old metal spring from a clock, I embedded it in the side of the shrine.
On one of the ends of the shrine I have used a piece of vintage trim that I painted and then randomly rubbed gold paint over to highlight areas of it. I cut off the cord from the toaster and wrapped the remainder in copper wire.
One end of the shrine, you can see the flip-down number spinner in it's unhooked position.
This photo shows the other end of the shrine with the secret drawer pulled out.
One side showing the bubble-encased words, the number spinner in it's closed position latched to the hook and the holed metal leaves with the wire lacing.
"The Oracle Shrine of Ottas"
mixed media assemblage (photography and found elements)
approx 20cm wide x 20cm high x 13cm deep
Made using an old toaster, clock spring, metal toothed zip, chicken wire, old teaspoon, rusted metal builder's tape, old brass hinge, rusted screws and bolts, rusted spring, vintage trim, copper wire, brass plate embellishments, scrap piece of thin MDF, hardwood strips, recycled cardboard, silver wire, dictionary text, barcode, plastic bubble case that beads came in, children's board book, acrylic rhinestone, metal washer, metal leaves from an old vegetable strainer, metal corner embellishment, antique copper rivets, sacking, brads, old wallpaper, copper plate, various fabric pieces, tissue paper, sacking, rusted chain link, ribbon, vintage ink, staples, rusted fine wire mesh, old suitcase key, old glass, ice-block sticks, chain, photo frame, metal sheet, brass rings, clear epoxy stickers, a lichen covered twig, twine, liquid nails, golden paints, paint pen and my photographic images.
(behind the cut this post is quite image heavy)
The only thing that I knew was that I wanted to alter an old toaster, one of the older style ones with the rounded corners and top but do you think that I could find one? I searched in my local recycle center, op-shops, on an online auction site and I even asked around to see if anyone I knew had one, but no luck. After almost deciding to give up on the idea I ended up finding one that would do, it wasn't as old as I would have liked but it was the closest toaster that I could find in the shape that I was after.
Isn't it cute? Very rounded and almost art-deco in style. It cost me $4 from the recycle center.
So the the title of the assemblage piece, "The Oracle Shrine of Ottas". The whole piece is and can be whatever you like, it does however have a meaning and is what I based the idea for the piece around.
An oracle as according to the Webster Online Dictionary;
or·a·cle Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin oraculum, from orare to speak 1 a : a person (as a priestess of ancient Greece) through whom a deity is believed to speak b : a shrine in which a deity reveals hidden knowledge or the divine purpose through such a person c : an answer or decision given by an oracle 2 a : a person giving wise or authoritative decisions or opinions b : an authoritative or wise expression or answer
and a shrine being;
shrine
1 a : a case, box, or receptacle; especially : one in which sacred relics (as the bones of a saint) are deposited b : a place in which devotion is paid to a saint or deity
With this knowledge the toaster becomes a very wise and knowing ancient fortune box. Who knew that a toaster could be so wise! The word "Ottas" is really just one of the quirky elements that I like to add into my work. Which in english means that the word 'Ottas' is really just an anagram of 'toast'.
There is a secret drawer in the shrine and when you discover it you will learn of the wise words of "Ottas".
"I am Ottas the Oracle Shrine I have been gifted with the vision of wisdom and prophecy. Only you are in control of your own destiny, I can however help to guide you in your quest if you so desire."
YOUR FORTUNE AWAITS ....
On one of the ends of the oracle shrine sitting above a rusted spring there is a small flap that unhooks and flips down to reveal a number spinner. To discover you fortune number you spin the red pointer and whichever number it lands on is to be your fortune as told by Ottas.
You then match your fortune number with the corresponding number on the fortune cards and select your fortune.
The fortune cards are numbered from 1 to 6 and tell of your fortune.
The fortunes are below;
Fortune Number One: "When you reach the top, keep climbing"
I have used one of my photographs of a tree that is reaching up to the sky. The fortune is suspended by copper wire and hangs from a twig that was covered in green lichen that I found in my garden.
Fortune Number Two: "The love of a family is life's greatest blessing"
I covered this fortune card with old wallpaper and aged it with ink. The family photo hangs from a chain and a hook.
Fortune Number Three: "Beauty surrounds you"
Photo is of a golden lily. I 'grunged' the photo in PSP before I printed it and then I burnt the edges. The photo is sewn onto frayed vintage material that is full of many colours to portray the notion that beauty comes in many colours.
Fortune Number Four: "Regret for wasted time is more wasted time"
This photograph is of a sundial that I took down at the beach, I also burnt the edges of this one. The verdigris wire spirals were from an old windchime that broke. The photo is sitting on many layers of tissue and textured paper that I aged with ink , coffee and paint. The fortune quote is backed by a piece of shorthand text that I tore from an old book. The shorthand text refers to a passage of time.
Fortune Number Five: "Be weary of a dark stranger"
This photograph of the dark stranger was a copyright free image that I found on the net. I added some dust and scratches and gave him a bit of a makeover by darkening his eyes in PSP before printing. The fortune words sit on some rusted metal mesh that I found at the recycle center lying on the ground out in the yard. It was so brittle that I had to be careful not to break it. I stapled the words on using copper staples.
Fortune Number Six: "It is often the last key on the ring which opens the door"
The old suitcase key sits in the opening of an old copper gasket. I attached the key with copper wire that is suspended from ice-block sticks. I added texture to the round opening and other random parts of the gasket and painted it. I have used a piece of old patterned glass and also a strip of a rusted builder's measuring tape.
The following photos are close-up detail photos of some of the elements of the piece.
I inserted a dictionary meaning of the word "fortune" and "fortuneteller" and covered it with wire.
Sitting near the top of the oracle shrine is an old teaspoon with a barcode set into the spoon indentation, on the other end sits a photo of a man, could it possibly be Ottas?
A detail photo of the lacing that is around the holed metal leaves. You can also see some rounded bubbles that protrude from the side of the shrine. Beneath the bubbles are fortune words, things like; love, wish, money, family and dream. At the top of the words are a set of eyes watching over everything.
This is an old metal spring from a clock, I embedded it in the side of the shrine.
On one of the ends of the shrine I have used a piece of vintage trim that I painted and then randomly rubbed gold paint over to highlight areas of it. I cut off the cord from the toaster and wrapped the remainder in copper wire.
One end of the shrine, you can see the flip-down number spinner in it's unhooked position.
This photo shows the other end of the shrine with the secret drawer pulled out.
One side showing the bubble-encased words, the number spinner in it's closed position latched to the hook and the holed metal leaves with the wire lacing.
"The Oracle Shrine of Ottas"
mixed media assemblage (photography and found elements)
approx 20cm wide x 20cm high x 13cm deep
Made using an old toaster, clock spring, metal toothed zip, chicken wire, old teaspoon, rusted metal builder's tape, old brass hinge, rusted screws and bolts, rusted spring, vintage trim, copper wire, brass plate embellishments, scrap piece of thin MDF, hardwood strips, recycled cardboard, silver wire, dictionary text, barcode, plastic bubble case that beads came in, children's board book, acrylic rhinestone, metal washer, metal leaves from an old vegetable strainer, metal corner embellishment, antique copper rivets, sacking, brads, old wallpaper, copper plate, various fabric pieces, tissue paper, sacking, rusted chain link, ribbon, vintage ink, staples, rusted fine wire mesh, old suitcase key, old glass, ice-block sticks, chain, photo frame, metal sheet, brass rings, clear epoxy stickers, a lichen covered twig, twine, liquid nails, golden paints, paint pen and my photographic images.
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