The first of my glass casts worked! After something like five days in the kiln I was delighted to discover that the mould held up, and that the glass melted, set, and cooled as it should do. The second, of three, pieces is in the kiln now, and being thicker than the first will remain there over the Easter weekend at least. Glass is a wonderfully curious material!
Today I started working out how to present the glass casts. At the moment I am thinking about the end of term show – and how I can achieve something of the feeling of the casts being sunken into the ground without actually doing that. I want to play with the depth of the casts – literally how thick the glass is, and also how it is hard to fathom the thickness when they are seen from above. As it is not possible to install the piece(s) in the actual floor I am thinking around other possibilities, and ways to reference a floor without it actually being a floor.
My wrestling with plaster casting continues. This afternoon I attempted another cast and again the plaster seeps out of the two-part mould. It should not do this as the inner silicon mould sits securely in its plaster jacket, and the two parts of the plaster jacket are bolted together. Discussing it with the sculpture tutor we wonder if it has something to do with the difference in density within the form itself – parts being reasonably thick and others being rather slim. This uneven distribution of pressure might be causing the flexible silicon to ‘collapse’ a little in certain areas and thus allow the wet plaster to run out. We have resolved to tackle this issue after the Easter weekend.
In the meantime I am taking advantage of the brilliant spring days and trying new ways to create shadow forms. Painting the shadow in acetone on polystyrene has interesting results, the challenge is to find a way to make a good positive from this.
Antonie and I continue to discuss how we will establish some kind of research platform for our own and other artists’ research. After hearing Antke Engel speak about the ‘Institute for Queer Theory’ I am thinking that perhaps an institute for artistic research would provide us with the (theoretical) space and ambition we are seeking. Engel’s institute is an independent organisation that presents artistic, cultural, and philosophical events in collaboration with various host organisations. She was a guest speaker at yesterday’s activities under the Normalcy cluster programme currently happening at Mejan (and continuing until next Sunday). Her talk was engaging and inspiring – themed around radical and not un-complex philosophical ideas she spoke so eloquently and elegantly that I found myself carried away on trains of thought speeding through new and unfolding landscapes. She concluded with her intention of “becoming indigestible” – as active resistance to normalisation and hierarchisation. The images she conjured up left me feeling both energised and a little embarrassed at how readily I capitulate to an easier position on the spectrum of normality!
The gunpowder workshop and the day at the shooting range were also part of the Normalcy cluster events and next week there is one final big explosive day out with artists Assa Kauppi and Johan Wik, and in the presence of Roman Signer!
http://kkh.se/index.php/sv/om-kkh/aktuellt/2226-no…
