Friday 28 June 2013

LEVEL 2 Complete!



Neil saw my last post while at  a wedding in Trowbridge and and managed to swing by my place to bag a bargain.
He looks very dapper today. I like to think he has dressed up for the photo:)

Unfortunately his flowers are way to big, he saw the last post on his phone and got the scale wrong. "Either that was a very large hammer or the vase was very far away" he says.

The Money Shot



£4 Thankyou very much!



I sign the piece ' Orders of Magnitude, Level 2 
Stuart Warren-Hill 
28th June 2013'

Neil left very happy with his purchase. He just emailed some pics this evening after arriving home in Bournmouth.


LEVEL 2 COMPLETE!
Thanks Neil Looks great in your place

Thursday 27 June 2013

LEVEL 2 - Smashing and Rehashing


LEVEL 2 BEGINS
The challenge is to spend the £2 made from the first level, enhance the purchase and sell for £4. Easy!
When I was in the charity shop buying for level 1 I noticed a pair of vases near to where I bought the CD case.


I think these vases are pretty poor and have probably been on the shelf for years.
They were £1.50 each. hmm too much. I took them to the counter and asked the young slightly edgy tattooed guy there if I could have them for £2. He obliged.
I told him briefly about the project and that I need to get a photo of him with the vases.
He said he would rather not, I respected this and took a pic from his neck down.
Add caption
Note: I think he was worried that his mates would see a photo of him online taking part in some insane art project holding two shite vases working in a charity shop because he hadn't told them he had been done for breaking the law and was doing community service when really he had told them he was in Ibiza having it large. well this is my theory anyway:)

Still no sign of the Master?

----
The Sacrifice

At home I decided to create an exploding vase effect by destroying one of the vases with a hammer 


After a few hours work I came up with this...



The nice thing is it's functional and can still be used as a vase.
The inner vase is supporting the smashed vase and Ive painted the inner vase black behind the broken bits to try create the illusion of the explosion.

I picked some roses from the garden to show the vase in use.

Oooooh lovely!




From behind!



Order of Magnitude
Level 2

'Exploding Vase'

Ceramic 
Wood
Enamel Paint
Adhesive Putty


FOR SALE:  £4

Contact



Monday 24 June 2013

LEVEL 1 - Remixing and Cider drinking

I had to think of something to decorate the case. I took the image of the lady in the shop and decided to do a repeating image in photoshop as she is holding the CD case. This is also in line with the Order of Magnitude theme.


Yeah I thought this was good but maybe I should try make it funnier......




I know Ill add a pugs head that will do the trick!!!


I resized the image to fit the CD Case printed the image on photo paper and glued it on.
i found some clear wood varnish in the cupboard and slapped on a coat for protection.


I signed the back 'Order of Magnitude, Level 1
Stuart Warren-Hill 
22nd June 2013'

(I fear signing it has devalued it!)

Later on Saturday afternoon I drove down to Dorset for the annual Chilled Cider event at the fabulous Square and Compass pub in Worth Matravers. This is a great music event run by Pete Lawrence and an annual pilgrimage for many.

I had a great night and it was good to catch up with old pals. On Sunday morning I headed back to the pub from down the road where my camper van was parked up.



I took the CD case along and began to tell friends about the project. 
Straight away Marcus bought the CD case for £2


We had a pint to celebrate the completion of Level 1 of the Order of Magnitude Challenge.
I explained that he is now entitled to receive a VIP ticket to the amazing party Im going to throw on completion of the challenge, after all I will have a million pounds to play with. He found this very amusing!
I also informed him that he had just purchased a one off piece of signed original artwork and that if the project was a success his CD Case would be worth vast amounts of money possibly millions. Again his amusement was evident.
Others were looking on, I could tell that people were intrigued and a couple of people showed interest on the next piece of art and the chance of getting a bargain.
Later that evening when i got home Marcus sent me a text telling me he loved it and attached a picture of it hanging on his wall. He thinks it will be a real conversation piece when he has guests round. I think he's right.

Cheers Marcus, 
Level 1 complete in a weekend, it's a great start.


Sunday 23 June 2013

LEVEL 1 - The First Purchase £1



I recently moved to the Bishopston area of Bristol and there are quite a few charity shops on Gloucester Rd .  The nearest charity shop to my home is the Marie Curie Cancer Care shop. Marie Curie looked after my mother Sheila during the difficult last few months of her life and were very caring and supportive to all of us. I have a lot of respect for the charity and I have made donations in the past.


On Friday 21st June I took a walk over to the shop with £1 in hand.....



As charity shops go this is a big one. 2 shops joined together. on the left clothes which I never go into only drop off my donated clothes and stuff. On the right is everything else and they get allsorts. theres always an old organ or piano for sale near the entrance.



I had a look in the far corner and I found a plain tin CD Case, Holds 10 CDs, How much is it?



BINGO! 



The nice lady behind the counter let me take a photo of her with the CD Case. She said she was a volunteer and I should really talk to the Master.  I said dont worry just a quick pic for my art project. She said she hoped she wouldnt get any comeback........ I didnt ask her name. maybe one day we will find out?

Now I need to decide how to decorate this object and sell it to someone for £2 as a piece of Art....

Wednesday 19 June 2013

A way of funding art and giving to charity

I have been giving more thought to this experiment and feel that it would be good to to create something new from something old. Sometimes Beautiful, sometimes subversive or shocking.
If money is generated by this project I would also like to find a charity involved in cancer research as I lost my mother to cancer in 2007 aged just 56.

Im thinking about how to spend my pound. In theory it should be quite easy in the early stages but you have to make a good decision at every square or it will fail. I may buy something from a charity shop  paint it or take it apart and remix it. Ill take photos of the it and where I bought it from, how I enhance it and who I sell to.





Monday 17 June 2013

The challenge begins one square at a time

The Order of Magnitude Challenge


 This blog is about a challenge I am setting myself over the next 12 months.  The challenge is to make £1,000,000 just by playing a game. I know this sounds like a crazy idea and your right , it is. Im just thinking differently about money and how we make it and not taking money too seriously. I have been thinking about doing this for some time, Im doing it for fun and and if it works then I will be able to fund my art, look after my family and be able help others who need it.

The Challenge
I was fascinated with the story about the king and the rice on the chessboard. heres a nice little animation about it by Ray and Charles Eames for IBM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3d0Y-JpRRg


Here are the rules of the game...

I start with a £1 coin
I have to double it by buying something old and remixing it and selling it for £2 then I buy something for £2 and sell this for £4 and so on...
I have to repeat this for each square of the chessboard.
There are 64 squares on the chessboard but I only have to make 20 transactions in 12 months
20 transactions =  £1M
(Note: If I was to complete the whole chessboard then I will own all the money in the world! yes really! and I will be able to end famine melt down all the weapons and turn them into rollercoasters or something far more useful if i could be bothered to put my mind to such a far fetched idea.)

Im 99.999% sure I will fail at this but it will be fun trying. It could be really dull or it could change my life. It may lead to adventures or it will never go anywhere. I have nothing to lose, only £1

Lets begin...