Looking to do something fun with your Perler Bead sprites? Try Art Abandonment With Perler Beads. It’s a fun way to make sure your art lives on.
If you are anything like me, you’ve amassed quite a collection of Perler Bead sprites. What do you do with them?
Honestly, there really is no end to the different things you can do with your Perler Bead projects. You could turn them into usable items like magnets or pins, you could hang them on your walls. Some people even sell their Perler Bead sprites at conventions.
Of course, when you love creating with Perler Beads, you keep making more and more things. Eventually, you may find yourself with an abundance of Perler Bead art that you just don’t know what to do with.
Enter Art Abandonment
I ran across the idea of art abandonment in a Perler Bead Facebook group. There was a simple post in the group where someone asked what everyone did with their Perler Bead sprites. One of the members said they abandoned them.
What the what?
No one really knew what she meant by saying she abandoned them. So she went on to explain that she was a member of an Art Abandonment group on Facebook, and she explained that the group believed in leaving one’s art in random public locations to give it a chance to live on beyond its creator.
Sounds cool, right?
So I did some digging, and found lot of information about the Art Abandonment movement. It was started by Michael DeMeng all the way back in 2012. You can read the story on his blog, here. I also found the Facebook group which has over 45 THOUSAND members. I read their vision:
Our vision is to: A) abandon tangible art for the joy of some UNSUSPECTING finder, B) photograph the art DURING the actual placement of release, C) share the photo here with other members
Then I promptly joined the group.
I’ve been ghosting in the group for months, and I have to say it’s pretty amazing the different pieces of art that people are abandoning. It’s especially fun when a finder posts something about the piece of art that they’ve found. Many times there is a sweet sentimental story to go along with it.
So, after all this time, I’ve decided to give my hand at Art Abandonment with Perler Beads.
At first I was just going to take some of my Perler Bead sprites and glue some magnets on the back. That way the finder won’t just find a sprite, they will find a usable piece of art.
Instead, I opted for making Perler Bead key chains and Mickey Mouse bookmarks. Why? Because I know that the art I create appeals to kids, and kids really have NO use for magnets. BUT, they do have a use for backpack pulls (keychains) and bookmarks.
Art Abandonment With Perler Beads
Once I decided what I was going to abandon, I actually had to create it. I already had the Mickey Mouse bookmarks, but I didn’t have any key chains made. I took some of my smaller sprites and turned them into key chains.
Not wanting to go overboard, I decided to abandon 10 items.
One of the things everyone in the group does is leave a tag when they are abandoning their art. So, I needed to create a tag. Many people use hand written tags,but I decided to create one in Microsoft Publisher.
I struggled a bit with the wording for my tag. The Facebook group has many examples of tags you can make, but none really suited me 100%. So I took bits and pieces of several of them to create the tag pictured below.
Once I had the tags created, I put each of my pieces of art into a snack size bag with the tag.
These Perler Bead creations were ready to be abandoned.
My Perler Bead Art Abandonment
I didn’t expect the feels that I felt as I abandoned my Perler Bead key chains and bookmarks.
First off, I felt nervous. I had chosen to go to a local park and baseball diamond before 8 am on a Saturday morning. I thought I’d be alone. My idea was that I’d drop the items off, take a couple of pictures, and then be off to enjoy the rest of my day.
Who knew that there would be so many people there so early in the morning. I felt like a spy, I was trying to go unnoticed with my giant camera wrapped around my neck and my hand full of baggies full of goodies. I was hardly incognito.
When I arrived, I made a beeline directly to the bathroom, I was self conscious that someone would think I was a freak or something. Plus, I didn’t want anyone to know I was the one who was doing the Art Abandonment with Perler Beads.
I abandoned my first key chain in the bathroom, gathered my wits and set back off on my journey.
The park is large, so I took a long stroll as I abandoned the rest of my Perler Bead goodies along the way. There were lots of pauses as I waited for people to pass. I even took some fake pictures of the flowering trees, so I wouldn’t look as crazy as I felt.
I’ll admit, it was pretty invigorating, playing the spy who was leaving gifts for the people in the park.
I abandoned my last piece and went back to my car. When I started my engine, I saw a mother with her two sons who were strolling in the direction of where I had left the pokeball key chain. They’d definitely find it.
I watched them for a moment. I felt really excited that I was going to see someone actually pick up my piece of abandoned art. As they got nearer to the pokeball, I decided to drive away. I didn’t need to see them pick it up. I was just happy to know that even if it wasn’t that family, someone would find it. It would bring them joy.
Art Abandonment With Perler Beads Summary
I had way more fun doing this than I ever imagined. Art Abandonment is an amazing way to let go of your art. For me, it was Perler Beads. Next time I might abandon something else, heaven knows we create a lot of things around here.
I also want to mention that I didn’t get either of the kids involved abandoning Perler Bead art, mostly because I didn’t know how they would react. It’s harder for them to let go of things they’ve made. After doing it myself, I think it’s an awesome way to teach your kids how much fun it can be to be both generous and anonymous. It also teaches them that art is meant to be shared.
My kids would have loved it, and I highly recommend Art Abandonment as a fun family outing. Oh, and it’s not a bad way to get rid of some of those extra Perler Bead sprites you may have lying around the house.
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