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Our first piece deals with ideas of public and private, as well as hidden meanings. There are a couple of simple skills you’ll need to make use of, but nothing too taxing. Here are my general suggestions for making things:

1:Assemble all your materials and tools in one place first. Once you get started you won’t want to have to go off wandering after things. Similarly you may want to print out these instructions before beginning.
2:It’s easier to go smaller to larger or less to more. If you’re drilling a hole, better drill one a little too small than a little too big, similarly when applying glue or paint, better to use too little and add more than to have too much.
3:Follow the old carpenter’s adage: Measure Twice, Cut Once.
4: Similarly it never hurts to have a spare of everything (well, maybe that does hurt, since it would explain at least half of the clutter in my place).

OK, Here’s what you’ll need:

Materials:
1 found painting: A thrift store painting works fine. I’m using a painting of a bunch of Dragon Ball Z characters that I found on the street last year.
1 “Cradled” art board. Usually a piece of Masonite with wood bracing around the sides. Should be at least 2″ deep This one is 8″x10″, but you can go larger. Available at art stores.
1 package of cup hooks. These are screw in hooks with a little clip on them to keep the cup secure
1 mirror. Mine is from Walgreens, but the important part is that it should fit within the back of your art board.
1 Security peephole. Available at hardware stores, get one that is designed for the smallest door you can find. Most of them use a 9/16″ shank.
Any number of washers that will fit over the shank of your peephole.
1 frame. Should match the size of your art board. Bought this one on the street for two dollars.

Tools:
A drill with one small bit and one bit that matches the size of the peephole shank. (The shank will tell you what size you need on its package.)
A box cutter
A pair of scissors
White craft glue
A sponge or sponge brush
A ruler
A brayer or a rolling pin
A permanent marker
A pencil

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Step 1: Use your ruler to find the middle of the back of the board. Center the mirror on the mark and use your pencil to make two marks for the clip hooks.

Step 2: Using the small bit, drill two guide holes for the clip screws, making sure that they will not protrude past the back of the board. Screw in the hook, facing the openings toward the front of the board.

Step 3: Use the permanent marker to write an embarrassing secret about yourself on the back of the board.

Step 4: Use the box cutter to cut out a section of the painting. Make sure to leave a lot of room for positioning your board.

Step 5: Apply glue to the front of the board, and smooth it over the entire surface with the sponge. Do the same to the back of the cut out section of the painting. Craft glue wont dry too quickly, so make sure that you get everything coated evenly.

Step 6: Position the two glued surfaces together (you might note that I’ve temporarily covered my embarrassing secret with some scrap felt here. That’s just so you don’t read it). Flip the whole thing over

Step 7: Use the brayer or the rolling pin to press the two sides togetrh and to smooth out any air bubbles or lumps. The reason you don’t want to use too much glue is that on some canvases it may seep out to surface. It helps if the canvas has been primed by whoever painted it first. You might want to let the whole thing sit over night to dry. Flip it over again.

Step 8: Use the Box cutter to trim the excess canvas.

Step 9: Find the center of the picture. Use the large bit (my peephole said to use a 9/16″) to drill a hole through the board. The canvas side will probably be ragged, which is not such a problem. (Notice how the felt is gone? That’s because I figured out half way through that I could use photoshop to smudge the secret in these instructions.)

Step 10: Unscrew the two halves of the peephole. Push the viewer side through the front of the canvas.

Step 11: If the fit is snug, simply screw the two halves back together. If it isn’t and the peephole wiggles, use the washers to fill up the space until you have tension between the two halves and then tighten them together.

Step 12:Clip the mirror into the hooks.

Step 13: Download and print out the authenticating label (by right-clicking and selecting “save file as” on this link). Cut it out and glue it to any place you like on the piece. Then sign and date it.

Step 14: Add your frame, hang on your wall and Voila! you’re done. Now you’ll know that at any time you or your guests can get a glimpse of your secret shame, provided they can read distorted, reversed writing inside a very dark box. (if you want to make it easier for them, you can use the 9/16″ bit to drill a bunch of light holes in the sides of the box). Of course if it’s real dirt, they should have to work hard to get it don’t you think? And you’ll know that your art (and home furnishings) conceal as much as they reveal, and vice versa.

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