Kintsukuroi, part 2

The "repair" of porcelain with lines of gold (lacquer) is an ancient oriental technique. It makes a broken item even more valuable, through the time and skill spent making the repair. (A salutary attitude for our own time of wanton wastefulness.) Historically, repair has been an important skill, as shown by this stapled-together mug:

(image from here)

Contemporary artists are using not just the idea of intentional repair, but also the kintsukuroi-look - for instance, Nancy Selvage uses epoxy resin and imitation gold powder -

"Global porcelain set" 2009 (image from here)

Jeanne Williamson's latest "construction fence" series uses the gold line too -

"Fractured Fence Repaired #1" ©2013 Jeanne Williamson

Lee Ming-Wei's "Mending Project" was part of the 2012 Sydney Biennale -

"Artist Lee Mingwei wants to fix you up. as part of his artwork the Mending Project. He'll lurk in the MCA's lighted corners waiting for you to bring in over- or under-loved garments in need of repair and fix it while you wait. Part of the bargain is that you pay Lee with talk (or by being teased) while he stitches your pieces anew. Resurrected clothes will hang on the cavernous walls on MCA level one until the end of the Biennale. Leaving it probably best to bring your summer threads along to hang out in public until September.
Lee will be providing his services on a drop in basis during the Biennale. The MCA also suggests you arrive early in the day for Lee's performance, in case he runs out of thread."

Nina Katchadourian mends spider webs -

"#19 - Laundry Line" (image from here)

She says: "The morning after the first patch job, I discovered a pile of red threads lying on the ground below the web. At first I assumed the wind had blown them out; on closer inspection it became clear that the spider had repaired the web to perfect condition using its own methods, throwing the threads out in the process. My repairs were always rejected by the spider and discarded, usually during the course of the night, even in webs which looked abandoned. The larger, more complicated patches where the threads were held together with glue often retained their form after being thrown out, although in a somewhat "wilted" condition without the rest of the web to suspend and stretch them."

Lisbon Doll Hospital might be said to mend a broken heart or two along the way -

(image from here)

More prosaically, there's a lot of this sort of thing about -

(image from here)

More mending inspiration can be found on this pinboard.