Spare Some Change?

Art action: Spare change mosaic

Clear off a flat, hard surface that you won't need for a bit. Desks, tables, hardwood floors will all work. The bathtub, bed, and shag carpet aren't so good.

Get out all your spare change. Go through your pockets, your bags, your laundry money, that jar on the table. Hunt through the couch cushions and the backseat of your car (check the ashtray, too). Once you've assembled a respectable amount, put it in a pile on your surface.

Now, make something. Anything. Maybe you only have enough to do a smiley face in dimes and pennies; perhaps you can do the Mona Lisa in foreign currency. It doesn't matter. If you don't want to try a landscape, go abstract. Sweep the change over your surface and see what patterns emerge. Play with the patterns until you think they are aesthetically pleasing (or not, if you're going for some shocking, unpleasant to look at art).

When you're done playing, snap a picture, and clean up your mess. You might want to roll that change up, too, and stick it in the bank. Or take yourself out to eat. Don't forget to restock the laundry and car toll change, and maybe drop a few cents in the cup of the guy on the corner.