Deconstructing Perfection Barb Cone The Playtime store in Arlington, MA, just outside Cambridge, is frozen in time. I doubt much has changed since the 1950s Customers are expected to step over open boxes and squeeze past stacks of mystery supplies, but the basement is where the real treasures are to be found: feathers in little cellophane packages, ribbons and notions, popsicle sticks, little wooden discs in di erent sizes, silk owers, Styrofoam, small glittery beads, and my personal favorite,
Kraft paper boxes with lids. I’ve never gured out what people use them for or make from them, but they come in di erent sizes and are well-made, sturdy, and cheap. The selection depends on the day you’re looking I started collecting them a few years ago because I liked them as objects. I would add to my stash now and then, and they lived in their big Playtime plastic bags under my worktable. Several times I tried to make something from them. I tried burying them in deep pours on my panels and created 3D collages with them, but I wasn’t happy with the results In the meantime, I made other work, hoping that some way of using the boxes would occur to me Fusion of Work and Dream No. 3, detail Fir, hardware, Velcro, cardboard, steel wire, rust
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