MMT Part 3 Casting & Moulding

 Research

I began my research by looking at the suggested products, some I was more familiar with than others. I wanted use a mixture of familiar and the new materials to experiment with. Combining this with my research of artists such as Victoria Ferrand ScottEduardo Paolozzi, and Rachel Whiteread. The pieces that stood out to me the most where:


Victoria Ferrand Scott

What drew me to Victoria Scotts work was natural flowing lines. There is something about the pieces that makes me want to run my hands across the smooth cold plaster.

Her use of casting is inspiring, I could imagine recreating her piece called 'Restraint' by using the bottom of a bottle of fizzy drinks to cast in. This piece brings to mind an item being bound and restrained with yarn. In fact this would work it a balloon filled with plaster and yarn being wrapped and crossed over balloon.

Restraint

Even with the second piece I was drawn to it again because of its natural curves. I instantly thought of them as representing a pair of lungs. The large curves reflecting the breath going in and out of these vessels, escaping through the concrete valves at either end. 

Again I could see this inspiring some of my samples, taking a flexible vessel and moulding the vessel with something like wire. To create the tighter smaller valves, then loosening the wire to create the larger more subtle curves.

Compressed and Expand

Eduardo Paolozzi

At first glance Eduardo's work did not appeal to me, it was a stark contrast from the smoothness of Victoria's work. Eduardo's work is rough, jagged and uneven. instead of wanting to run my hands over  his work it drew me in to look at in more detail.

But on closer inspection for looking after him more details you can see all the intricate parts and shapes joined/moulded together to create very intricate bust/face.

There are so many bits to look at you get lost in the face, leaving me want to explore every angle. I went from not liking the piece to wanting to see more.

I wonder did he start with the piece and then created the face. Or did he have the face and created shapes out of it? Perhaps this is something I could experiment with in the future? 


The second piece that caught my attention was the piece below. This piece was because of the texture and piece and and how it appears to have been created. It looks like layers slapped on top of each other with different surface textures captured within each layer. Again you could spend hours looking at the piece and finding parts you didn't notice before. 


Rachel Whiteread 

Rachel's work got me thinking, at first I thought wow that looks really simple she's literally just filled a hot water bottle and called it art. But then I realised it had a plug in the end how did she manage to do that as she wouldn't have been able to cast that piece. 

Apart from that I'm not really sure what else I can take away from the piece. Its a hot water bottle but I'm not sure what it is trying to portray. 


Her final piece I chose to look at was her House sculpture. A casting on a lot larger scale to the other works I have looked at. Capturing the windows, doors and stairs of a house that previously stood on the site.

I again struggled to see the artistic creative qualities to her work. I don't appear to be the only one to question her work as the house was pulled down and had a very mixed review by locals. Maybe Rachel wanted her work invoke this discussion with public. Compared to the previous artists works that had uniqueness, Rachel’s work is a concrete copy of someone else’s work. I do want to explore sizing after looking at her work, perhaps not quite as big as the house but a range of large and small samples. 



Pinterest Board https://pin.it/5eIUgK7



Project 1: Moulding from a surface


Now this part I was really looking forward to. I began by researching the different methods some I was more familiar of than others. Such as; paper mache, plaster and clay. The ones I was less familiar with were polymer, resins and liquid latex. 

Once I had looked at the different processes involved with each material, I then took into consideration how long the different materials took to set, the cost of the product and if I could actually use stuff I had at home. 

As much a I would have loved to try everything the cost of polymers were more than I wanted to spend to experiment with, as well as the resin. I was lucky my sister has done resin work in the past so I borrowed her kit. The other material I was shocked at cost was the liquid latex for such a small amount. 

Whilst I put my order in for the materials I didn't have to hand I began with a material I could gather together around the house. I decided I would try papercrete, I'd done paper mache before but not papercrete. 

I chose to work with newspaper for this selection of samples, using vessels and surface to create a variety of shapes and textures. What I hadn't considered was the length of time it would take for the papercrete to dry. I resorted to putting into the airing cupboard to help speed up the drying. The difference in giving it an extra day to dry was remarkable. It went from being crumbly to a solid firm piece. 



I preferred the outcome of the more simpler vessels, I could create flat surfaces against the bottom of a jar or one of my favourites was the lozengier packet. Each little cylinder popping up perfectly formed, looking like they were made from concrete. Rather than the ripped up shreds of newspaper.




One of the downsides to this media was how fragile it was if it had not been compressed enough and left to dry for long enough. I was also not so keen on the non-smooth side of the casting. 

Bottom of Fizzy Drinks Bottle


And because of the nature of the material it was difficult to capture the subtle textures, for example the crisscross of the bottom of the plastic package. Although I suppose if I wanted to create a more subtle texture it would be a good material to use.

Plastic Container

Lozengier packet

Sieve

Ramekin 

Resin definitely needed a bit more accuracy than I'm used to. I took inspiration from samples created on my previous samples with plastics sandwiched between plastics. Instead of plastics creating the sandwich, I used resin to encapsulate the plastics within. Using cut cellophane in my first one, this one really proved you had to be accurate as I do not think I got the measurements right for each liquid meaning the sample didn't set.



My second attempt was more successful with the layers of netting, with the top layer of netting rising up out of the resin creating interesting textures, which was a happy accident. There are definetely plenty of plus sides to this material but there are some negatives such as, setting time, the chances of if not setting and lastly being restricted in casting in moulds.

Netting

Cellophane Triangles

A5 Brown card, Acrylic paint and card triangle stamps




A4 Cartridge Paper, Masking Fluid and Ink

The final sample I felt safer using, it reminds me of the plaster cast moulding sets I had as a child. I also think because of the amount of material I had to use allowed me to be more experimental. Capturing textured surfaces and casting. Using materials and found object to see what could be created. 

I discovered very quickly that there needed to be a barrier such as cling film between the casting and plaster. Although that didn't always work, after trying to delicately pull the beads out of the plaster.

I then came up with the idea to make my own moulds. /I wanted plastersine but I didn't have any to handle but I had some left over icing fondant. Which worked really well with the pine cone casting. 

I really like the way the material works, not only does it dry quickly it is so versatile. From soft lines, textures, to the solid creases created from a folded sheet of metal.  

Fabric 


Pine Cone Casting (fondant)


Pine Cones (no cast)

Folded Metal


String of Beads


These final samples in plaster are my ‘happy accidents’ after beginning to clear up, I found that the jug I had used to pour the plaster from had left a residue around the edge. When removing it, it came away as a solid piece. Although very fragile! 

I loved the smooth thin, delicate edge, that curved to the edge of the jug. Yet hiding on the opposite side was the rough, jagged, imperfections of the plaster. 









After using the plaster of paris, it got me thinking I wonder if I could produce a similar effect to the plaster of Paris with candle wax. 


The answer was yes I could! The lines were a lot cleaner and sharper appearance was lift on the castings. It was also less fragile than the plaster of paris. The drying time was probably equal to the plaster. 


The only trouble I had was capturing texture as you can see from the pictures. Everything stuck to the wax like the plaster. To avoid that happening in future I would have to look at making a casting in clay or silicone to cast from. 


The other negative is the smooth samples remind me of a bar of soap. Maybe I could look at adding something into the wax, like  nuts and bolts or string. To break up the solidness to the pieces. 



Tin foil, fork mark making, yarn


Fabric

The plastic moulds used reminded me of the work produced of Rachel Whiteread. Casting replicas of the shapes like her work of the house. Obviously on a lot smaller scale and in wax rather than concrete. 

Plastic packaging and an egg box

Liquid Latex

Liquid latex was the next material I wanted to explore. Only having a little tube meant I was restricted to The size of the sample. 


I wanted to capture texture with the latex so chose items I felt would create interesting textures. Choosing orange skin, pinecone, and bubble wrap.


The thinner I spread the latex the quicker it dried. Peeling the latex off it looked promising but as it dried further the texture got lost and it ended up looking like dried up shedded snake skin. 


Perhaps I needed to be larger and thicker. Or perhaps I had the wrong sort of latex? Maybe this is something I could revisit?









For some of these ideas I used the work in part 2 for inspiration and the for some I used the work in part 3 to see how I could make them work for some of the pieces from part 2. Using my sketchbook to jot down my thoughts and ideas.

 



My first piece I did the latter, I loved my ‘happy accident’. I wondered first of all if I could recreate the piece again. Which I can tell you was more difficult than I’d hoped for.  

 

First trying to paint it on with a brush but on cling film. The cling film went all over the place with the paint brush. So I abandoned that idea and went for my hands opting for a thicker consistency, which meant it help in place easier and I was hoping being thicker it would be less fragile. 

 







Leaving it until it was fully dry and then carefully peeling it away from the edge of the jug and cling film. I then moved onto the second piece. All was going well until I left one piece on the side and it somehow got broke. Frustrating as it was it made we redevelop my initial idea.

 

Using a small sharp pin to slowly twist into the edges of the plaster creating tiny holes to weave the wire through. Instead of 2 pieces I now had 3 to connect. Connecting them all together to make one piece. 



It reminded me of a broken piece of pottery trying to mend the shattered piece. It reminded me of the Japanese art called Kintsugi. 

 

This piece could be really good increases in size. And using more exploring more  interesting yarns to connect the broken piece. Each piece would be unique as it would be difficult to replicate each stroke/placing of the plaster.




A2 Cartridge paper, marks made with black acrylic and cardboard tools self made




 


Exploring plaster again, this time using it moulded in a vessel. Using the piece below as inspiration.




I began by collecting a variety of tubing from the local hardware store. I had the idea to fill the tubes and then cut them open to reveal a solid tube. As you can see from what actually came out of the tubes this was not what happened. I ended up with crumbling sticks of chalk!





It was ok as I had a back up plan. Using bandages soaked in a more watery plaster, recreating something similar to the plaster you’d put around a broken arm. Then laying lengths of doweling in a tub. Using varying widths and wrapping them in cling film, hoping the lengths of bandages wouldn’t stick. 



Moulding them around each stick to create hilly ups and downs. It took a lot longer to dry than I’d anticipated. But this was due to the wetter material.

 

Once I had created 3 layers of varying styles, I then set about stacking them working out which ways I preferred to display them. 




If I was to recreate the piece again I would like to try it with the actual material used to make casts for broken bones. I’d like to explore if that would create a different surface. I would like to have seen a neater finish to each layer. 
















I had lots of ideas for this exercise and could have gone on to do many more samples. 

 

I started by gathering different vessels I could use, piping bags, sandwich bags and balloons. I also originally wanted to use plaster again and began filling vessels. I also wanted to have them hanging so not to leave a flat area. So getting creative with string and bulldog clips. Using the window handle to hang the vessels off.


I used Victoria Scotts work as my inspiration to develop my ideas for this exercise. My aim was to produce organic curves within the moulding material. Like her Restraint work, as looked in my research.

 

Well it was good in principle but as I had to make the plaster a pouring consistency to fill the vessels. This meant that after 24hrs it was still not set. Even the smaller balloon vessels. I drew a line under the plaster idea and came up with a backup idea. 

 

One thing I’ll take away from the plaster activity was that the balloons were the more practical vessels to use. This time the material I chose to work with was the wax again. This was in the hope that it would dry faster than plaster and at least I knew it would have to dry eventually.

 

So the most difficult part was pouring the hot wax into the balloon. Trying to hold the balloon open and pour the jug without over spilling. The frustrating thing was the lack of expansion in the balloon. I tried blowing it before filling it to make it easier to stretch. But this didn’t make much of a difference. Anyway I continued on with a very slippery balloon and trying to wrap a mixture of items around them. 

 

Elastic bands- Taking several elastic bands with the aim to randomly wrap them around the balloon. The only problem was, the balloon was incredibly slippy. To give the elastic bands something to grip onto I wrapped the balloon in tissue. Then began randomly wrapping the elastic bands around the balloon before hanging on it up to set. 







Unwrapping the balloon I found an air bubble had created a flat surface with the moulded wax. This made the moulding remind me of a sea shell. It’s a bit like when you look at the clouds and try to make out images in them. 





Wire- Next up was the wire, this became difficult to spread out evenly around the balloon. Gathering all in mainly one are and creating bulbous lumps. 








Beads- I was hoping the beads would work similar to the elastic bands but leave more texture. I was fairly disappointed with the outcome, as it was difficult to get the string of beads to pull tight like the bands the mould was smaller and the marks not very clear with in the wax. 






Chain- The chain worked similar to the string of beads. I think due to the chain being larger and longer in length. This meant that it didn't bunch up as much as the previous materials, so instead of creating bulbous shapes it created a long and narrow shape. With texture left throughout the length of the mould.







Wood- Moving away from the wrapping technique, taking four wooden rods and placing them around the wax  filled balloon and securing them in place with elastic bands. Creating a sharper texture and a lot more accurate than the wrapping method. Other sized poles and shapes.







Spiky mat- This got me thinking into what other things I could use with this technique. I found one of my daughters textured mats covered with little plastic spikes and secured it around the balloon. Although it created a subtle texture, it wasn’t the statement piece I hoped it would be.





I like the unknown part to the task although you know what you are using you never know what the outcome might end up to be. It would also be difficult to reproduce each piece, with each one being so unique. Yet all six pieces work well as a set of interesting textured pieces. They make a good starting point to explore different materials, vessels and size.




Reflections

Was it as you expected? How did you feel working with hard materials? 

I was curious before starting, as a lot of the materials I hadn’t used previously. Also wondered how I would be able to incorporate textiles into the hard materials. You automatically think of textiles as soft and flowy a stark contrast to firm, rigid materials used for casting. So, I’d say no it wasn’t as I’d expected. I didn’t think of the possibilities and what can be achieved.

Were you more comfortable using a particular casting material? 

Now I thought I would be saying that plaster was my preferred material to cast with but on reflection I actually think the papercrete was easier to work with. It felt more controlled being able to press and mould into the shape I wanted. As the material took longer to dry and harden it meant that I had to manipulate the papercrete. On the downside because it took so long to dry it meant that I had to wait a couple of days to see how the casting had come out.

Did you discover something new? Has it led to ideas for further sample-making? 

This exercise has opened a whole new avenue to explore within my work. A new selection of skills and materials, I found that I could combine material such as the resin and the wool. The bandages and plaster also presented future avenues to follow.

What are the qualities and characteristics of the samples you’ve made? 

Although the materials are firm and rigid, it was interesting to see the flowing shapes that could be achieved from a naturally rigid material. I have achieved a selection of interesting samples which are tactile and aesthetically pleasing. You want to pick them up, look at them and inspect them. Seeing all the little imperfections which adds character to the samples and makes them unique.

What have you learnt from your contextual research and how did it inform your sampling? 

The artists I chose to research and in fact even the ones I chose not to delve further into, made me realise how thought provoking their work was. Some of the simple pieces like Victoria Scotts work, it doesn’t have to be a replica of what it’s trying to portray. It’s the slight angles and shapes that get your mind thinking about what story is it trying to tell.

Whereas on the other hand you had artists such as Rachel Whiteread house piece. You can clearly see what it is but wonder why she decided to create it and what does represent.

How do the processes you’ve used relate to or change view of textiles?

I feel the process throughout this unit has got me thinking about how I can adapt some of my more traditional ideas and take them into a more interesting place. Mixing the unconventional with the conventional, it has made me wonder what the limits could be. Could I use some old techniques and combine them with a modern material like some of the plastics. Or use a soft material like silk and combine it with a material concrete, pulling polar opposites together to create new and interesting unions.

How well have you used drawing and your sketchbook to document and develop your samples? Has colour played a significant role in your drawings?

I have felt confident using sketchbook throughout MMT whether it is to log my ideas or interesting outcomes from the samples created. After feedback from my tutor I looked at using different sizes papers to record my sketches which I did during this unit. I have also included colour into my sketches, my aim is to use more colour in my work, samples and sketches. 

In what ways could improve your approach to the projects to help you develop more successful, varied or pleasing samples? 

I think I could improve my approach to each project by being experimental. Exploring new products, pushing myself out of my comfort zone. Allow myself to make mistakes and accepting things don't have to be perfect. Actually the happy accidents are usually some of my favourite samples.

How has your approach to research improved throughout the course? 

I started out thinking research was about finding out about the artist and their history. But soon discovered it was about observing their works, the materials used, colours and size. Not just what I liked but also what I didn't like and being able to put that into words.

Could you be more tenacious when confronted by errors or samples that you don’t like? 

Yes I could be more tenacious, instead casting the away those mistakes, the samples that didn't come out how I had hoped. I should instead embrace the mistake and learn from it, what went wrong and how can I improve on it. Or even looking at how I can develop on that mistake or adapt my samples to work around the error.

Do you need to be more sensitive in your use of colour or combination of material qualities?

I think I need to less sensitive rather than more. I'd love to move away from my safe creams, beige and blacks. And explore a more vibrant colour palette. Exploring contrasting colours that complement the piece I am making. I have started to bring colour in to my work with small pops of colour in the set of samples I have created within this unit.


Demonstration of technical and visual skills – materials, techniques, observational skills, visual awareness, design and compositional skill (40%). 

 happy with the technical and visual techniques used in this assignment. Using new materials and techniques being experimental. Using previous samples and observing their qualities and which ones develop further. 

 

Quality of outcome – content, application of knowledge, presentation of work in a coherent manner, discernment, conceptualisation of thoughts, communication of ideas (20%). 

I am happy with the outcome of my samples. Understanding the way is the material work and how they can be presented. Being able to create interesting ideas from sketches into actual casts and moulds. 

 

Demonstration of creativity – experimentation, invention, development of a personal voice (20%).

I feel I have demonstrated creativity enjoying being experimental with idea and materials. Coming up with innovative ideas for casting  techniques and thinking creatively on how to create texture in my work and how bring colour into my work. 

 

Context – reflection, research, critical thinking (20%).

I found research was key in this assignment. There were materials I had never used before or thought about using before. Taking time to look into them and artists that included them in their work. Helping to get the initial ideas going. 

Then going back on those ideas a reflecting on what had gone well, or could have been even better and noting those thoughts. And then reviewing which ideas could be developed further. 





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