Do-It-Yourself Forgery
America has become an obsessively DIY culture, in between extended bouts of tv watching. In honor of the subprime mortgage meltdown, which has suddenly made tinkering with one's home much less possible for many people, the museum offers a DIY forgery project that results in a unique small-scale artwork. Total material costs for this project will run under $100, especially if recycled items are used to the greatest extent possible. Final results will vary. Substitutions may be made for any of the items in the materials and tools lists.
The museum also holds that outsourcing forgery is ethically untenable. With DIY forgery, both the risks and the rewards accrue to the same individual.
COMPLETE INSTRUCTIONS
RELATED POEM
TITLE: The Labyrinth of the World and the Paradise of the Heart
DESCRIPTION: Wooden box with 3 internal partitions containing Household Icon, Butterfly Rock and Minotaur Nest; with Child's Labyrinth painted on inside lid.
GENERAL INFO: Original by Ako Joop, 1993, currently in the gallery of the Museum Beuymans-van Boyningen, Rotterdam
SIZE (H x W x D): 24 x 32 x 10.5 cm overall. Box lid: 24 x 32 x 2 cm. Box bottom: 24 x 32 x 7.5 cm.
TOOLS: *matte knife *glue *brushes *rags *hot plate
MATERIALS: *wooden box *shoe polish *fire *oil *felt *newspaper *xeroxes *cardboard *hair *acrylic paint *india ink *hairbrush *thread *pen nib *modeling clay *straight pins *jute *cobblestone *butterflies *wax *scrap iron *wire *coal *artificial lichen