Project 8: Casting, internal space/ external form.

‘Ambassador, you spoil us’ (2019). Material: Plaster. Height: 64 cm

For my first in a series of plaster sculptures I used empty rigid plastic food containers. I began by filling five salad containers with my plaster. I’d already determined that these hemispheres could be joined to form spheres. I placed plastic piping in each poured piece. I left enough pipe protruding to be able to form a connection with the next stage of the moulding. Once the first half had set I began to de-mould. I filled another five containers and then placed the set pieces over the liquid plaster to form the spheres. The plastic piping formed a solid bond. I could have used wood doweling but since I had the pipe kicking around my garage for years, I thought I’d do something useful with it. I had toyed with the idea of doing the entire piece using plaster dye, hence the blue globe at the top. As I began to construct the piece I started to think how others might interpret the end result. At first I wasn’t sure which layout I was going to follow. I had done the drawings. Each idea seemed feasible and aesthetically pleasing but would they stand up to the balance test? It wasn’t a case of ‘you’ve only got one shot at this’. I thought about getting it wrong right from the beginning. I would use a long heavy base as a counter balance. A chicken thigh package did the trick.

    

     

The five balls were heavy and I knew I’d have to use something robust for doweling. I found some 10 mm aluminium tubing in my studio.  I drilled a hole in the base and two (one top and one bottom) on each ball. The top ball needed just one at its base. I drilled the holes using masonry drills in three incremental sizes. It is easier to drill plaster if you continue to clear plaster dust as you go. I used the tube to connect each piece on to the other and then to the thigh package base. I did not glue at this stage. Once I’d determined a layout that I was happy with then I could start gluing each piece together. I had learned that it is imperative to seal bare plaster if you need the glue to work properly. I used Gorilla glue in this instance. There are a few different types of Gorilla glue. The one I used acts like an expanding foam. I glued two balls together and waited a few hours before adding them to the base.

I used a full five litre container to support the balls as the glue set. Patience was the key. I added the other balls in increments, each time propping them with wood batten wedged between each ball and a nearby wall. Once finished, dried and set I painted the surfaces with Zinsser primer. I used a gold spray top coat from Aldi supermarket. I’d snapped up several cans of the spray some months prior. I’d purchased a can several years ago and marvelled at its appearance. Many metallic sprays on the market do not match the hype. They must have changed the recipe because I was not impressed with the results this time around. I waited a few days and tried another brand with more pleasing results.

   

       

My sculpture symbolises the infinity of human greed and the infinite suffering of those exploited by those in pursuance of vast wealth. My inspirations for this work were Brancusi’s ‘Endless Column’ (1937) and Stephan Siebers ‘Balance’ (1998). Unlike Brancusi, I neglected to use half a sphere at the top as a component to further accentuate the concept of infinity.

          

‘Arizona’ (2019). Material: Plaster. Height: 48 cm.

I wanted to combine the look of heat with a shape loosely based on a cactus plant. I started off with two bottles, one cup, one lid from a salad bowl (left over from previous project), a biscuit packing case and personal headphone blister pack. The bottles necks were going to need cutting with my Dremel disc cutter once plaster had hardened. To create the streaking effect, I first randomly squirted blobs of yellow watery plaster onto each surface. Before the yellow plaster set, I completely filled each item with a vibrant red plaster mix. I could see the merging effect taking place through the transparent containers. Once set, I de-moulded each container.

     

     

     

In my mind I’d already tasked myself with building a totemic structure to resemble that of a cactus. Taking into account the size and weight of the proposed structure, I’d calculated that 3 mm wire would be sufficient for joining each piece. I used the wire in conjunction with the same Gorilla glue used in the previous project. I think I managed to capture the essence of aridity with this piece. I drew inspiration from ‘Cactus man 1’ by Gonzalez (1939) and the book sleeve for ‘Underland’ by Robert Macfarlane

     

    

         

‘Biomorphia’ (2019). Material: Plaster. Height: 49 cm.

I wanted to use balloons for at least one sculpture in project 8. It was pure experimentation to start. I carried out some rough sketches to get some ideas going. I had it all mapped out in my head, how easy it was going to be etc. Of course logic tells you that pouring plaster into a balloon via a funnel just is not going to work, well at least not over and above a few dribbles. I cut a large plastic water bottle in half. I thought that would do as a disposable funnel. I taped the balloon over the neck end of the bottle. As I started to pour the plaster it soon became apparent that I needed to somehow force it into the rubber. I put my lips and cheeks over the open end of the bottle and blew with an almighty force. Bingo! It worked. It was uncomfortable and not a satisfactory way to achieve my goal. It wasn’t long before I came up with a better idea. I purchased a silicone cake decorating bag with a selection of nozzles. This proved to be ideal. Any residual set plaster could easily be removed and the bag washed ready for continual use. The bag worked a treat. I still taped the balloon to the nozzle just to be sure of preventing a messy leak.

     

     

     

         

         

The whole process was quite nerve wracking. There was a constant fear that a balloon might burst throughout the operation. Once the balloon had been filled to its capacity I released it from the nozzle and tied a knot in the usual way. I now had ten minutes or so  to manipulate the balloon into shape. It was like battling with a greasy sausage with a mind of its own. It soon became clear that it was going to be a difficult task to match anything approaching my initial ideas. My first of five pieces took on an organic, natural form. The second piece was formed from a round balloon. I took the first set piece and pressed it into the top centre of the second unset piece. I waited for the second piece to set. This process would be the template for the formation of subsequent pieces. For three pieces I used plaster dye that resembled jade in colour. I used plain plaster for the two alternating pieces. I had already decided to use a metallic bronze spray on these. I wanted to achieve a sharp contrast to the jade. Once all the pieces had been formed I began to fix them together using dowelling and glue. I followed the usual method of drilling each piece with a progressive use of drill sizes.

After a few days had passed I began to question my choice of colour and positioning of each piece. I decided to leave the colour but alter the topmost piece. I took the radical decision to do the unexpected. I have some advanced photographic software that allows me to manipulate images. I did a few mirror shots of ‘Biomorphia’. They remind me of the Rorschach ink blot tests. I think the images give a whole new perspective on existing sculpture and I can see it being a useful tool for the creation of some exciting work. I have been inspired by the works of Jean Arp (1886-1966).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    

      

Pig iron shuffle (2019). Material: Plaster. Height: 54 cm.

Once again I decided to showcase balance within sculpture. I had a collection of identical sliced vegan cheese packages which I chose to use as moulds. I wanted to push the envelope a little further by fixing two pieces face to face. I placed five moulds on the floor. I placed two plastic conduits in each piece before they began to set. Once they had set I filled a further five moulds and placed the set pieces on top of each. On setting, I had five solid back to back pieces. Could anyone identify this shape now? I had in mind some cards tumbling from a shufflers hand. I would work from that mental image to achieve my goal. I wanted to capture the illusion of a frozen moment in time. I followed the same technique as in the previous projects. There were problems. Each piece was quite weighty and once all five had been assembled the first two pieces in the structure came loose. It was clear that I needed to use a different glue. I had to disassemble each piece. I cleaned out the old glue and used a polymer to seal the porosity of the plaster dowelling holes. I used a quality super glue. This seems to have worked well.

               

     

     

      

       

      

Once everything was in place I painted the structure using a tinted quality primer (Zinsser). I tinted the primer base using liquid dyes purchased from Special Plasters. I finished the whole sculpture using my own authentic rust effect. I now had my innocuous cascading pig iron castings. The sculptures balancing act occupies its surrounding space and exhibits a sharp degree of continuous rigidity. The totemic nature of the sculpture exploits symmetry and gravitation. I think of it in terms of an invitation to contemplate the balance between the natural world and global industrialisation as the world slides inexorably towards climatic calamity.

         

              

     

Copper cage (2019). Material: Plaster. Height: 30 cm.

For this final piece in a series of five, I decided to create something with a more rugged textured finish. I initially thought of using bubble wrap as a mould. I had intended to somehow suspend the material from a makeshift tripod. I lost my nerve and instead elected to use food packaging as support cases. I laid the bubble wrap rough side up and poured plaster into several shapes.

           

     

       

           

I wasn’t too particular about how I placed the material inside the packaging. I knew the resulting creases would lend more character to the piece. I wanted to achieve another industrial looking finish. The bubble wrap left deep indentations on the surface of each piece. After brush painting with primer I decided to spray on the final coat. It was the only way to achieve full coverage by reaching into the tight creases and indentations. I used a matt black stove paint. I finished the surface using a copper wax applied with my nitrile gloved hand. I thought the contrasting colours worked well.