Tape Art in the Car

My brother recently came to visit us from Idaho about a week ago. We enjoyed his visit immensely, and he was pretty brave, bringing his kids (5 now) with him all the way to the midwest! They have a DVD player in their suburban, but you can only pack so many movies for a 48-hour round trip.

So I decided to give them a few rolls of the Color-Code Tape tape from ChromaLabel.

I didn't tell them what to do with it... I figured that would be half the fun! My brother called me the day after they got home, and thanked me for keeping them occupied ("even up to Wyoming"). Well, hey, what are brothers for, right? One of his kids started crying - something about his favorite praying mantis passing away during their vacation (!!??) - so we got off the phone pretty quickly.

A few days later, I was surprised to receive a package with three great pieces of artwork that these kids had made... I was blown away by their creativity; even using tape intuitively to create 3-D objects! Look at the apples on the tree, look at the leaves on the other tree!

My brother also wrote me a note, saying that the entire SUV had been covered with the tape. The little artists were using the tape on the windows, on the leather seats, on the fabric ceiling... "I can't imagine what the cop thought of our car when we got pulled over in Bozeman. Actually, maybe your tape saved me from a ticket..."

But Tom continued: "I was dreading having to go into the car the day we got home to pull off all the tape. Driving across the Midwest in the Summer with adhesive on your windows is never a good idea. So I walked out to the car with lighter fluid, a razor, and a bunch of rags. Uh, I didn't use any of it. The tape all peeled off easily, leaving not one little mark!"

I'm telling you, Tom... this stuff is great. I'm sending him a care package in the mail tomorrow.

Anyhoo, just wanted to share that story with you all, and I hope your summer is going great!

-Andrew

How I got started in Art Tape

Well, for those of you who know me, I'm a big art history nerd. My favorite class in college was 20th c. Art History IV, which basically covered from 1985 - 1999. But I was frustrated that this class ended in '99! So I set out to teach myself all that I could about contemporary art.

One artist I really liked was Linda Price-Sneddon. She has such a vibrant nature to her work, and uses so many different media in her installations and pieces! But as we amateur artists and educators know, it's hard to afford some of the new media that are so popular these days. How can you explain to your supervisors that you want to try metallurgy for your 7th graders?

That's why I was blown away when I saw that she was using Color Code Tape! It's cheap, easy to work with, has tons of colors, and it's something totally new and exciting to work with... PERFECT for crafting, part time art, and teachers who are on a budget (or over budget, as I often am!).

I've been working with tape for many months now, and continue to be amazed at the results. It's just so easy and fun, not to mention inexpensive!

I'll post some of my own pictures here in a little bit, as well as plans, ideas, and more! Until then, happy taping!