Many apologies to my colleagues about the gelly. When researching the material, I found no warning the material had a distinct smell. I should have known, at the amount that I am using -almost five pounds of it, the distinct smell of gelatin becomes incredibly potent. Nonetheless a sigh of relief was heard all over the Foundry when I said I would finally throw away the gelatin. With the weather warming up, it just intensifies the smell. And sharing ventilation systems with studio mates just poses so many problems. Above my smooth-on rubber mold. Definitely loving how the mold came out and the immense detail I got. Bellow is a test of how the gelatin reacts to the acrylic support system. What I ended up using is a little over five and a half pounds or so of gelatin. It essentially made about 12 quarts of gelatin. In working with gelatin, I have learned that it is heat and time sensitive. The more heat and time the smellier it becomes. Aesthetically though, the gelatin is the perfect material. I love the color. So what resulted, as my first cast of the gelatin. There are definitely structurally issues. The gelatin at the thickest is about five thick. At that part it has difficulty supporting itself. Its actual wearability becomes extremely cumbersome when the gelatin is finally on the support. I am not entirely abandoning the project, this is definitely going to be revisited. Melting "belly gelly." A nice idea of how the material biodegrades over time as well as they acrylic vaccu formed support system. Had to use my hand to squeeze the gelatin that was sandwiched between the two layers of acrylic.
Today was Spartan Day where incoming students get to tour the campus and the facility and the art department held demos from all the different disciplines. The Foundry was asked to bring a little fire, and with the big iron pour this Friday, what is more fitting than a mini iron pour. Today definitely was a great day to be outdoors. Along side demonstrations going on in the classrooms, the different disciplines also came together in the quad. Glass, ceramics and jewelry making. This tiny cupola is named Flower Pot. Filling green sand molds with the melted iron. Fellow grad, Scott Gorham riding fellow graduate alum, Andrew Hedge's roaster.
Been really lacking in the personal documentation. Recapping the last week or so in the studio. It has definitely been busy.
Remarkable, because the weather has been so tame this last week. But we did get an afternoon of moody weather a couple weeks ago. And just when you get used to the noise of rain hitting the foundry's metal roof, hail happens. It sounded like it was raining marbles.
Definitely resorting in making waxes of my tea set hoping that I will achieve a greater amount of detail through standard investment. A quick shot of the wax plates.
All the while working on my ballistic gelatin suit. Completely made another goofy mold. I attempted to take a plaster bandage mold of my chest in order to make plaster molds I could vacu form to make the acrylic components to the suit. One, plaster bandages are far more difficult when you are fighting gravity. I do not ever recommend taking a chest mold standing up. It is just problematic. And second, a very awkward, awkward, awkward way to spend Valentine's Day.
Fast forward, I was able to get a decent clay version of my plaster gauze bandage. Here is the clay underneath a plaster flick mold. Making a mold, to make a positive, for another mold, in order to make another mold. It is mold-tastic.
Plaster positive, one of the two I made gets covered with more clay. Sculpting the fat version. To take another mold. I promise this will make more sense. Right now it is just a scrambled mess of random photographs. My apologies.
Same clay form covered with the first layer of SMOOTH-ON 40.
And the gelatin continues. I am sure that my colleagues are tired of seeing different plastic tubs and pitchers filled with gelatin in the studio refrigerator.
Thus far I have used 24 ounces of gelatin which translates into 6 quarts of the jiggly stuff.
Scored the biggest pot at the Goodwill. Believe it holds eight quarts. It has to. Here is the gelatin after the blooming stage. The consistency is if apple sauce solidified.
Cooking the gelatin.
Hoping for the best. Learning that the gelatin is better the second melt down. Prepping this gelatin for when I have my rubber mold ready.
And lastly I caught this Wednesday night. Paola Antonelli, MOMA's Senior Curator of Architecture and Design on Colbert Report. Antonelli talks about MOMA's latest exhibition, Applied Design, explains theoretical and applied design, as well as goes over some work in exhibit and eloquently sasses Stephen Colbert's satire. Best line ever. Stephen Colbert asks where are we now? Antonelli's response, "we are post, post, postmodern, present, pre future, but a little bit of future today with history that comes with us."
http://www.hulu.com/watch/461610
Thank you internet! After some light researching, I found a recipe for homemade Balistic Gelly. I hope it works! Would help the pocket if it did. Firing the stove up and melting down the gelatin after blooming. Fingers crossed! It's looking like it worked! Definitely mold ready with this full proof recipe. Busy day at the foundry. I love assisting for the Beginning Sculpture class. Everyone is just super energetic and always ready to get their hands moving. Today I lead a demonstration on how to use the plasma cutter for the students in Beginning Sculpture class and it looks like they did pretty awesome. Definitely one of my favorite tools. One student even figure out how to get the forge going. Later on campus I was shown the shop's secret cabinet. And inside was a time capsual. Check out the packaging on all these. Amazing! And lastly, trying a different direction with the tea sets. Hoping to achieve more detail with plaster molds than the green sand. Definitely ready to get waxes poured and gated. The new equipment is hooked up and ready to go. Today's demonstration broke in a couple of the foundry's new toys. Foundry Technician, Steve Davis leading demonstration on some of the cold fabrication equipment in the shop. Steve is showing students in Art 68, Beginning Sculpture the shop's new combo sander. Professor Shannon Wright demonstrating how to use the foundry's new table saw. Stop Saw! Or how we prefer to it on class as the Hotdog Saw. Got my foot back from the alginate mold demonstration from last week in Systems and Structures. Super weird seeing my foot this way. Definitely interesting the amount of detail it picks up. Headed to Herbert Sanders to check out Six. Think my pocket knives looked awesome. Thank you again Elizabeth Torrance and Chrysta Giffen for putting up an amazing show. |
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