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DiscardArt- Art that has been created as an
original work and then discarded either by the original artist or someone
else along the way. I think I have looked for discard art my whole life,
or it seems so. Like an addict, I get an unusual feeling, my heart starts
to gasp for volume and my skin peels away, or feels like it is. My eyes
move quickly in their sockets. I get a fast and enveloping feeling that I
could conquer most of the world if only I had that art. And then I get it
and look at it, move back twenty feet, press my nose up on it, use a
magnifying glass like a low flying plane searching for the hills and
hollows of color. I yell at it, yell at myself. I wonder why it was where
it was. Then, always, I start to worry that I won't find more, that
somehow all the discard art in the world is being bought up while I
look at my piece. And the search starts at the beginning. I hope art never
gets outlawed again.
Where To Look for DiscardArt- a very dangerous subject. As soon as
the comfort of knowing where to find DiscardArt settles in, a piece is
missed. The real hunt is everywhere, all places and all things. I find
DiscardArt in thrift stores, junk stores, small shops in bad parts of
town, garbage bins, laying on the side of the road, estate sales, garage
sales, junk days and everywhere else my eyes look. The best pieces are
usually found when you are on the way to somewhere else and just make a
quick stop to search....it feels the best and works the best, not taking
time from other matters. |
The Value- an easy trap to fall in to is questioning the worth
before you buy a piece of DiscardArt. The real way to buy is ignore the
worth and instead set a price you will not pay. I usually will not pay
more than $5 and mostly less than $3 although I have spent up to $25. Just
remember, what you pay has nothing to do with the actual value of the
piece. Remember, someone threw the art away. Some simple examples of the
way this works....I bought a paint by number for $8 and sold it for $500.
Eight bucks was a lot but I liked the style (cubist) and knew it was
early....I bought five little handmade cloth dolls for $10 and sold them
within two weeks for $2250. Later that year, the guy who bought them sold
one for $1800....Although I don't buy DiscardArt for the resale value,
funding for future purchases has to come from somewhere and I make it come
from the collection itself. Many times, at an estate sale, I have purchased
great amounts of art for less than $20 and sold a few pieces for the
hundreds and kept the rest. More often, though, the art never leaves here. |