edgepieces

Jigsaw puzzle manufacturers do not use a unique metal die to cut each of their puzzles. For efficiency of production, the same die is used to cut multiple puzzles. When puzzles have been cut by the same die, their pieces can be swapped.

When I find two interchangeable puzzles, I look for ways in which they might combine to make a new image. The resulting mashup can be hilarious, surreal, provocative or profound. I call these mashups edgepieces.

edgepieces are both my newest and oldest artworks. I discovered that jigsaws can match while doing a huge stack I’d received for Christmas 1985. “Hey, haven’t I seen this particularly weird piece before?” I made my first edgepiece in 1986 and carried the idea with me. In the 1990s I began to save puzzles I’d assembled, hoping for matches. In the 2000s I began to formally classify the puzzles according to my own taxonomy. In the 2010s I began creating new mashups. From 2018-20 I exhibited some of these new works in Renfro Library at Mars Hill University. In 2026 I built a home studio and dove headfirst into what is now my full-time work.

contact:
Dan Koster
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dan@dankoster.com