Cut Me Up Issue 6: Object Lessons, curated by Michael Oatman, is a selection of 19 artworks that dimensionally expand upon collage methods to explore assemblage, sculpture and installation. 

Reflecting on the history of the found object as Readymade, as well as the importance of personal objects within our pandemic landscape, the artists in this issue have created artworks that serve many functions. There are objects of comfort, remembrance and protection. There are objects of play, several that can be assembled by Cut Me Up readers. Artists explore physical material as possibility, inspiring us to build, and to rebuild. Artists also explore the transformative potential of waste materials, objects we use and dispose of.

As Michael Oatman describes, these artists have “plunged into art history, dreamed of unvisited lands, fabricated pandemic wear, gene-spliced, mailed themselves to friends, invented architectures, hacked the still life genre, baked a pie, conned us, charmed us, calmed and alarmed us.” 

Curatorial prompts for Issue 6 artists:

• Make assemblages in any combination of media that explore the spectrum of dimensionality from 2-D to 4-D.
• Reflect on the use of Readymades — in the spirit of Marcel Duchamp and Meret Oppenheim.
• Consider interiority. Shadows might play a role previously unaddressed in your works.
• 3-D printing, laser cutting and other digital tools are worth employing.
• Consider a work that might be cut out of the magazine and get folded, tabbed and slotted by subscribers.
• Photograph your assemblages in the studio, on the street or in contexts previously unused.
• All eligible submissions must incorporate some portion or portions of Cut Me Up: Issue 5.

Michael Oatman’s original curatorial call for Issue 6 can be found here.

Issue 6 Cover Art:
Yura Adams

Issue 6 Guest Artist: 
Mark Dion

Issue 6 Artists:
Yura Adams
Todd Bartel
Lucinda Bliss
Heidi von Conta Howard
Mark Dion
Carla Dortic
Natalia Drachinskaya
Rubén Frejo
Kathy Greenwood
Abigail Hunt
Clive Knights
Amy Mahnick
Daniel Mantilla
Melinda McDaniel
W. David Powell
Jeff Quinn
Lisa Sheets
Dana Sherwood
Karin Stack

All of the 65 response artworks made by 57 artists for Cut Me Up Issue 6: Object Lessons can be found here.