Remember these pants
They may not look like much now; they're going to look like a lot less in the future.I've been interested lately in how long things take to happen. I picked up a rock on the beach when I was on vacation. How long would it take for it to wear away to nothing? Ten years, twenty? I took it home and measured it, then brought it to work. Some of my co-workers understood immediately. "Why not weigh it?" suggested one, and another took me into the lab to find the right scale. "Are thousandths of a gram precise enough," he asked.
So I've got this 77.531gram rock on my desk. People come by and ask for it. They hold it and rub it, throw it up in the air. I have yet to name it.
A friend recently said that I'm turning into a conceptual artist. I think that means that most of my art is in my head instead of anywhere that anyone can see, but no matter.
How long do things take?
These pants were too long, so I cut off the cuffs in preparation for hemming them. I didn't have the right color thread, though, so they hung in my closet for several months. Then I saw a pair very similar to these in Barney's, whose hems were unfinished, as part of the design. They cost over $300. I decided mine could be worn that way too, which works out really well for me, since I hate hemming pants.
Then I started thinking: the bottom of my pants unravel a little every time I wear them or put them in the washing machine. How long would it take until they were completely unraveled?
I am going to find out. I am keeping the threads I snip off in a little box. More pictures as we progress. I have a feeling this project will take a lot less time than the rock one. That I may have to make provisions for in my will.
posted by Excellent Walker at 11:06 AM
7 Comments:
You know that's my middle name, right?
Holy cow, you ARE a conceptual artist. We need a website for you. The Perserverence of Things. You could expand your collection and comment on emphemera, permanence, transience, conscience, consumrerism and other long words. I love it. I love it.
I think Pete would be a better name for your rock because then you can be commenting about Catholism also and we all need to do more of that.
Ha. Pete it is. I've been doing a lot of thinking about Catholicism these days -- what else is new -- as I've started attending an Episcopal church that is, in some ways, more Catholic than the Catholics. But they let women be priests, so right there, it's better.
I totally meant ephemera, not the other thing which sounds like asthma medication (which tells you what I've got on the brain). Did you hear about those women who were ordained Catholic priests in the middle of the St. Lawrence river? Good on them, but not enough to catapult me back into the arms of the Church. I'm trying to get my own behind to the Friends meetinghouse nearby. I think silence would work for me.
I also wanted to say that while I know work is a grind, I think it's very cool that there are people in your office who immediately "got" your rock thing and wanted to weigh it in thousandths. That ain't happening in offices around the country. That's unique. I like it.
You're absolutely right. It's the main reason I stay (that and laziness about defining exactly what I want to do and figuring out a way to do it).
After careful consideration, I've decided to call the rock Peter. It's more dignified than Pete.
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