Can ‘absence’ be communicated through a solid object?
We were introduced to the casting and moulding process today, the idea was to create a mold and a plaster cast exploring our ‘inside-outside’ ideas and objects. We looked at artists who use the casting process in their work.
The Artists & Inspiration
On Rachel Whiteread:
I love the way Whiteread explores the idea of negative space surrounding or contained by objects, such as casts of the area beneath chairs, suggesting how human contact becomes embedded in our environment. She uses materials like concrete, resin, and even snow. They take the shape of everyday objects such as mattresses, hot water bottles, and stairwells. I like the way that her pieces are always second hand and have told a previous story.
On Mark Quinn’s ‘self’:
Mark Quinn's work, I have to say, it freaked me out slightly but also fascinated me at the same time. I love the commitment he has to his work; using frozen silicone and his own blood as a substance to create casts of his own face, hence the name 'self'. The work was made at a time when Quinn was an alcoholic and a notion of dependency – of things needing to be plugged in or connected to something to survive – is apparent since the work needs electricity to retain its frozen appearance. He started this series in 1991 and the last one he did was in 2011. They document changes in Quinn’s appearance but also his ongoing and lasting self. Quinn's art to me suggests that he explores the nature of preserving himself; bringing not only a scientific aspect to it but also a spiritual one and questions mortality and the ever lasting soul.
On Lauren Kalman:
I then researched my own artist outside of this class and found the fascinating Lauren Kalman who is best known for casting her own bodily orifices and successfully I might add. This particular exhibition was called "Devices for filling a void". She used materials such as body-safe silicon, plaster in a balloon, expandable foam and water in a balloon. She then holds them down until they are set. There is something quite elegant and refined about the finished mixed media pieces. Especially the ones with gold-plated copper that Kalman transfers to wax moulds via electroforming. Theres a braveness and courage to the way she works. She's a risk-taker and explorer of all things and this inspires me. Kalman poses nude with the finished pieces for photographing them which tell a pretty graphic story of how they were produced which I think just adds to the whole exhibition.
The Process
My idea came from the recent research on dreams. It inspired me to analyse my own dreams, repressed emotions and past experiences and portray this through the means of artistic impression. Having found that I have recurring dreams of control in one way, I have also found that these dreams are often anxiety dreams. They usually consist of water, which after doing some research I have found out that water can represent deep emotions and the unconscious. I want to try and portray this through the casting and moulding process by using a glass bottle of a woman's torso, my hand and liquid. The woman's torso bottle represents myself and the liquid inside represents my emotions. I want to experiment with different colours relating back to my colour theory research on how different colours represent different emotions. The hand around the bottle is my own hand trying to get a grip of my own emotions, asserting control over myself or even someone else asserting control over me and feeling powerless.
I considered Health & Safety in the casting process; when using plaster and alginate there can be dust particles so to always use a mask, to wear gloves and protective clothing when working with plaster, clay and alginate, to NEVER place your hands into plaster when it is drying as it heats up once it starts to dry, to NEVER pour plaster down the sink as it blocks it, to REFER to COSHH safety sheets when working with chemicals and to cover all surfaces to protect from dust.
We worked in pairs following a demo and supported each other with the process.
I explored the casting process with alginate & plaster. I used the RATIOS: Alginate:water 2:3
Plaster:water 2:1. Due to my object being large and wanting to hold it with my hand and do a plaster cast of my hand I used a bucket, therefore needed more alginate. I calculated my ratios as being Alginate:water 6:9.
Mixing the alginate mix quickly with a hand mixer, I then plunged my hand and arm into the liquid mould clutching my object of a glass female torso.
Once the mould had set i carefully removed my hand from the mould.
Measuring the plaster and water I made my plaster mix and poured in a bit to coat the outside of the inside of the mould, tapping it to release any bubbles and tipping the bucket up, down and round to make sure it was all covered inside. I then filled the mould with the plaster mix and left it to dry over night.
Coming back to my mould and plaster the following day I used a knife to carefully cut away the mould.
This was my finished result. I was very happy with it.
What worked well:
- The hand holding the bottle, this gave the sense of control around the torso.
Even Better if:
- I would like to push this further by trying different coloured liquids, oils and paints inside the bottle to see what emotions it could represent. This will be the next step to do to create another aspect to the piece.
- Having really enjoyed the process of using plaster and alginate and exploring dreams I would like to develop this further into another project by looking deeper into the analysis of my dreams and creating a series of sculptures based on them and/or other people's dreams and incorporating unloved items from charity shops.
Liquids Research
I came across this mesmerising video when researching different liquids I could mix together to create an effect that would portray emotions. I wanted to incorporate colour to represent these emotions.
Thomas Blanchard has shot a series of these types of videos which have really inspired me to create some of my own videos or at least experiment!
"Experimental dreamlike videos rocking us smoothly through circular moves. The visual compositions have been created out of paint, oil and soap liquid.
No FX, just shooting with inks & paintings." - Thomas Blanchard.
My Own Experiments
I will need:
- paint
- oil
- liquid soap
- honey
- milk
- a bucket/tray
- gloves
- something to mix with
- a Jug to pour my creation into the bottle
- A camera to capture some stills
After attempting this experiment, I didn’t get the results I wanted, especially for the bottle. The paint, milk and oil combined too much when mixed and wouldn't suit being in the bottle. I wanted to have a colour and substance that would mix temporarily but then go back to its original form. I will try it with just oil and coloured ink instead. However I did get some cool stills from it!
A short video of manipulating the substances. It kind of looks like the studio sink!
I attempted oil, water and ink together in a jar to test and I really like the results. I will use this method to go in the bottle. It really represents emotions mixing, filtering and changing.
Having done my experiments I needed a funnel to get the oil and water into the bottle, a pipette to drop the ink into the water and oil, ink, water and oil. I chose red and yellow for the colours, as red represents anger and yellow represents joy. I wanted to take some shots of the red in first and then to the yellow in to try and make bubbles in the oil. Once they had mixed it would make orange and this represents balance.
Before studio shots with just the oil and water.
The first shot of the red entering the oil.
As soon as the ink separated from the oil into the water it immediately reminded me of menstrual blood!
Adding the yellow...
Watching the yellow and red combine...
The finished piece.
What worked well:
- The oil, water and ink combination giving the desired effect of being able to shake it up and cause a reaction to portray emotions being shaken up and then calming.
- The white of the hand contrasting with the reddish, orange liquid.
- The broken off bits of the hand, even though unintentional, it adds to it making it look old and worn, something taken off a sunken ship.
- The tiny bubbles of plaster on the hand have a similar effect.
- The liquid in the bottle with the cork in reminds me of having to bottle up emotions, 'sticking a cork in it'.
Even better if:
- Trying different coloured ink
- Adding different textures and materials in the bottle to portray a different mood, meaning or message.
- As I said previously, I would like to further this project, expand it and make a series of either my dreams or pick a few volunteers willing to provide recollections of their dreams using items found in charity shops so they tell a story already from being preloved.
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