Portrait-Robot de Melody

I love organized clutter. It is perhaps the most inherent aspect of my aesthetic ethos. Artfully arranged collections of interesting objects. It comes as no surprise then, that one of my very favorite modern artists is Arman. His portrait-robots being the works I find most compelling.

Portrait-robots, as he called them, were works made up of personal objects discarded by the subject. Essentially, garbage in a box, hung on the wall.

Portrait-Robot de Daniel Spoerri, 1962

Portrait-Robot d'Elaine, 1962

Aren't they lovely? His early portrait-robots were small, later pieces grew to be quite large.

Portrait-Robot de Jacques de la Villegle, 1965

Portrait-Robot d'Arman, 1992

Ever since I learned about him in an art history class a few years ago I've been thinking of making my own. And now, looking back on his, I wish I had the time, space, and resources to take it further. But for now, my little shadow box will do.


About a year ago I began saving all my fiber scraps from projects, which make up most of my Portrait-Robot de Melody, along with a few other small objects I have no practical use for. A pair of broken sunglasses, empty thread spools, dried flowers, shells I picked up at the beach, packaging materials, various found objects.


I purchased a shadow box, which was conveniently backed with foam I could pin into. And using straight pins, I simply pinned my objects into a pleasing arrangement.