Erosion

e•ro•sion |iˈrō zh ən|
noun
the process of eroding or being eroded by wind, water, or other natural agents : the problem of soil erosion.
• figurative the gradual destruction or diminution of something : the erosion of support for the party.
• Medicine the gradual destruction of tissue or tooth enamel by physical or chemical action.
• Medicine a place where surface tissue has been gradually destroyed : patients with gastric erosions.
DERIVATIVES
erosional adjective
erosive |iˈrōsiv| adjective

ORIGIN mid 16th cent.: via French from Latin erosio(n-), from erodere ‘wear or gnaw away’ (see erode ).

I think I can safely say that I've spent most of my life attempting to prevent erosion — of my clothing, my relationships, my home, my car, my health, my teeth. However, last year when I first read about artists deliberately placing objects outside in the elements to see what would become of them, I was intrigued with the idea. So this year, I am participating in The Erosion Bundle Project. 

If you click on the above link, you can read all about it, but the idea is simple. Gather objects such as fabric, paper, metal, whatever; then bundle them together and place them outside and let Mother Nature do her thing. You can bury or hang the bundle or simply place it on the ground. The starting date is (was) January 1, and the bundles will remain outside until April 15. Then the challenge is to create artwork using the newly eroded objects. I am 4 days late in getting mine outside, but it is now done. Here is a photo of the items in my bundle.

I used a rusted baking sheet as the basis for my bundle. I'm hoping that will make some interesting rust stains on my other items which include fabric and ribbon bundles wrapped in German, French and Dutch book pages. I tied these mini-bundles with some cool lokta twine that I bought this past year while visiting Joanne in Michigan. I placed a rusty key on each of these, once again hoping for some rust action on my papers and fabric. I threw in some bingo cards, bottle caps, wooden clothespins, old jewelry, some gold foil birds, a horseshoe-shaped good luck charm, and a belt buckle.

Then I wrapped all those goodies with a piece of quilting fabric that I've had for a few years. I couldn't help but wonder if the designer of that fabric, which is quite pretty, would ever think that someone would place it in her yard hoping for the elements to wreak havoc upon it.

Finally I wrapped the whole kit and kaboodle with kitchen twine and went outside on this cold day (29°F was our high here in Marietta — quite cold for us) and tied it to this large crepe myrtle. I was torn between burying my bundle or hanging it, but since I really didn't feel like digging a hole, I just let the bottom touch the ground with the dead leaves and pine straw all around. I secured it with some sort of electrical wiring I found in our garage — I'm sure Warren will never miss it!

Now, it's time to wait and see. The weatherman says we may get snow here at the end of the week — I hope so. It will be so cool to see my bundle out in the snow. I'll take photos.