As a continuation on the laundry theme from yesterday I thought I’d spotlight the artist who made a 14 foot long portrait of The Last Supper using ...dryer lint. Laura Bell collected lint from her dryer for seven months. Since most laundry lint is a pasty gray color, Laura bought colorful towels and dried them separately to get the right shades and tint.
Bell didn’t win the “ArtPrize2010" contest she entered but Ripley’s Believe It or Not! bought her piece to display in one of their Odditoriums. As a reward from the Ripley’s acquisition, Bell used the money to buy, you guessed it, a new washer and dryer!
Ripley’s has a collection of Da Vinci’s Last Supper done in unusual art forms. They own one done on a grain of rice and one made from burnt toast.
Regarding her art replica, Laura Bell said: “For some people, it’s a very spiritual experience. Others are simply amazed at what someone could do with basic laundry lint.”
Personally, Bell’s masterpiece doesn’t inspire me like the Da Vinci original but I am impressed by her ingenuity. With all the laundry loads I’ve washed it never once occurred to me that lint might be of any use. Particularly as an art medium! I’ve probably amassed enough lint over the years to replicate Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling!
Collecting lint seems like a real stretch on the “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” concept. But, I will say that my last couple of wash loads I have envisioned The Last Supper each time I unloaded my lint tray. So maybe Bell’s medium isn’t such a bad thing if doing the laundry brings on beautiful images and some Christian reflection.
