Yesterday I stopped by the Institute of Contemporary Art to check out the Charline Von Heyl exhibition. I went to see her works on paper, as I was interested in her process for those pieces. I enjoyed them as much as I thought I would – photocopy, collage and ink on paper is right up my ally right now. I have been thinking of returning to collage and paper myself (this used to be part of my process for years and years until one day I asked myself, “Why am I doing this and not that?”) Experiment can lead you both close and far I think. Regardless – Von Heyl helped me remember why I like collage – as did James Gallegher’s current show at Jolie Laide. It is a way for me to build ideas with existing objects, to dissect and put back together in a different way – and a way for happy accidents to happen. It can also be very entertaining while being exploratory, and I of course love being both entertained and entertaining. I’m going to start experimenting on paper and also on wood. The goal for this week: one piece per day.

Also of note at the ICA was Bill Walton’s re-created studio. It is a deliciously delicate installation to size of the late Walton’s studio in Philadelphia. It reminds me of where’s waldo in a quietly poetic way, a romantic way even. This perhaps because I grew up with a carpenter for a father, so a vice grip means different things to me I suppose. Still worth a look, not only for the lovely pieces of finished work lying about – for the line of art and process mingle easily here – but it also brings up the question of what is and what isn’t art? A finished piece? The way a bottle of Windex sits on a work table? Piles of nails in a jar? A must see.