As I’ve said before, It’s a matter of doing things indoors while waiting out the season.

A few tentative results have come up in the interim. One is a bundle of gender symbols composed of walnut, mahogany and oak pieces that I’ve had around since I dressed as a younger man. The other is a serendipitous product made up of mason’s lath, a basic building material that I ran across at the hardware store.

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These pieces are intertwined one circle through another to form a closed loop. Again, this is changeable as the mutual relations of the pieces depend upon which individual is picked up or hung on the wall. Makes me think of a story whose narrative, and the outcome of which, would depend upon a given word or paragraph being chosen in a programmed context.

Folks have suggested that the pieces of such a loop be painted and otherwise decorated in order to enhance meanings. I’m proceeding carefully along that path, mindful of the potential existing in the shapes and inherent hues as they are.

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Now for the lath. It’s made of aspen and split along one axis to give a rough and somewhat unpredictable surface. Each piece of lath is thin and light. I have been painting these individually and laying them up plankwise in a somewhat ragged manner. The assemblage employs the scissor jack motif that I’ve been using. The points of connection are also somewhat ad hoc so that the “planks” tend to lay upon each other as they will – this facilitated by their thinness. The lath gives off a feeling of friendliness. Pity that so much of it gets buried in plaster walls.

Comments? Suggestions?