Ok, so maybe this isn’t exactly an Indiana Jones caliber treasure find, but we do get a lot emails asking about the original edition of the Beejoir LV Child and thought some of you might enjoy the tale…
Once upon a few years ago I bought a standard, self-healing cutting mat. I’m sure you know the type. One of the forest-green, gridded things used as a backing for cutting stencils, chopping stickers, trimming counterfeit banknotes, etc. For years this little mat was happily (ab)used by anyone in need of a cutting surface at our old studio until we finally packed up and headed to the new digs.
At some point in all this, someone decided to duct tape the edges of this trusty mat to an old wooden board that was hanging around the studio to give it a bit of support and portability. This ubiquitous mat/board combo remained a solid staple of the studio until just last week.
When caught in a pinch on shipping materials, I opted to use that bit of wood to reinforce a package that urgently needed to be shipped. In the midst of dissolving the holy union of mat & board, the little beauty pictured here was spotted on the back side of my faithful green cutting slab. I immediately recognized the piece, so the find itself was more of an “Oh…so that’s where it’s been hiding!” moment than a breathtaking discovery. However, considering that we get at least a few emails a week asking if any Beejoir LV Child pieces are still around, I can definitely appreciate the irony in the fact that there’s literally been one sitting in front of me all this time.
As for the piece itself, you’re looking at the world’s only ‘reverse’ Beejoir LV Child stencil and screen combination. While it’s pretty exciting to find it again, the story behind its production is a bit more mundane. If I recall correctly, we weren’t really going for any particular effect when we made this. It was simply the product of curiosity. Beejoir happened to have this layer of his LV stencil at hand, my gold LV screen was still sitting in a corner of the studio, and the back of this mat just happened to be the perfect size to play with. Using a combination of stencil and screen is actually the only way this reverse (gold over black) effect is achievable since the layer order in the print is almost the inverse of that in the stencil. If I had to guess, I’d probably place the year of birth around 2006/7.
Anyway, I always enjoy finding buried treasure around the studio. Beejoir’s busy helping BON prepare for his solo exhibition at the moment, but when I catch him at the studio next week I’ll re-acquaint him with his long-lost child and try to get a signature on this.
Keep Turnin’ Stones,
J
