RErORT C!T rOST-GRADUATE DITr-lCI'A
(sciTxrrjRE)
1953
T K I-T T S
The starting point 1 Introduction. 5 Technical developp-.ent 3
.'.esthetic achieverrents 7
A*
Iritroductlon
In terT:S of what I set cut to do in my v.-ork prcnosal, the yea.r hps heen a success.
Briefly iry propossl was this: to learn more ahout the technclory of casting sculpture and to explore relief as a format for comment and exr:ression.
It should be ctated ?t this point that this post graduate year-hrs teen for me the reheginning of n;y art career, this having heen interrupted oy five years secondary school teaching. V.'hile not having teen com-pletely idle during this period, ray output was fai' from ade;iuate for proner develcpr.ent of rry work.
Cn the technical and aesthetic fronts I was quite .rusty.
It v.'cs v;ith great trepidation that I resigned from my job and began this year.
Technical develonrsent
For many reasons, not least the aesthetic, I was keen to aquire " sounder knowledge of foundry r-ractice .•
The foundry school run earlier in the year by leter Korley v/as a rich source of information in this regard, particularly in connection with flexible rroulding technique, gating systems and pouring teirneratures for bronze. Here I was able to build fruitfully onto'an already v.'ell developed knowledge in this area.
I wished to use part of my time at the school putting into practice-, some ideas I had on casting^ which v/ould, if successful, faciliate greater ease in casting and less cost. In sumasry the ideas v/ere as follows:
1. to build a portable gas fired furn-ce 2. to build a draft assisted gas burner
3. to build a large steel crucible for melting aluminium with pouring facility
4. to take ludc moulds straight from modelled clay 5. to combine ceramic shell investment with
ludo investment
Wietrer any of tTiese investigations v/sre terribly innovative, I do not know, my main concern wi-s to get ?round a series of technical riroblems. I found my experiments to be very gratifying and largely successful.
I would like now to expand on v/hat was achieved:
1. Portable furnace
Gonventionrl furnaces are usually built into the ground and are made of relatively poor insulators. Further, removing laden crucibles requires the use of tongs.
I. v/as cv/are that light v/eight, effective insulrtors existed in the form of fibrous kaolin fire blrnket,
I endeavourfed to mount this materi.e;! into a steel annulus.
The prototype was built with very thin guage steel sheet. The sheet was rolled into a tube shape and spot welded. Into this annulus T put a thin layer of piaster and vermiculite reinforced v/ith chicken wire. The intention here v/as to pro-vide some backup insulation as well as an absorbant anchorage for the fire blanket.
A separate top and bottom were made in the same fashion. The base being m.-?de in two pieces. Having a split base obviated the use of tongs as. used in conventional furnaces, the pouring shank being under the lutnace v/hile the .metal is heated.
The basic concept was good. In practice the furnace v:as very effective in sneedily melting bronze.
V/ith repeated use, however, the following faults became apparent: I •- the thin guage steel wss too flimsy
- the pl&ster v/as too heavy •
- the plaster overheated and began to disintegrate - the bare fire blanket was very vulnerable to damage
from, slag end molten drops of metal
- the use of fire blanket on the base made same very short lived as a result of furnace refuse fusing holes - sealing in the split base became very r,cor with'the
result that flames v/ere blov/n out onto the floor - there was no combustion chamber built onto the side
of the furnace, v/hich, when using the forced air burner, meant that the furnace v/as not running at full capacity
- the furnace vvas not adequatly insulated.
In the "new irpproved" model all these faults can be easily remedied. Such a furnace design is an excellent r.rocject for the student and practicing artist.
2. Jraft assisted burner
_ c; _
3. larre ci-uci'ble for aluminium
I had envisaged casting Gom.e large works in a]uiiiiniuni. The existing nelting car-acity ot the school wss quite srmll. Also it is a waste to use silicon carbide crucibles to melt alumir-ium. I fabricated a very large crucible out of 3/8" guage 15" -nipe. The capacity of same is 30 litres, more than enough, further, a small barrow like apr.aratus was made to hold and maneuver the laden crucible for pouring. To heat the crucible, a temporary furnace is constructed using insulator fire bricks, the top being covered with fire blanket. The heated crucible was lifted from the furnace to the barrow with a mobile crane.
To minimize corrosion of 'the steel crucible a low melting point glaze v/as applied before each firing.
ludo moulds straight from clay
I v;ished'to work this year in as speedy and direct a way as possible. Much of the work I had in mind would usually necessitate expensive and time consuming flexible moulds.
i-:y first works this year involved making lively sketches in clay then applying the plaster and sand mix (ludo) to form a mould. The clay was carefully removed (sand and plaster is quite weak). . " •
The empty cavity had wax applied to it and the gating system was attached. 7inslly the mould was m;de to envelope the wax and the gating system.
I wish to further experiment with this technique , apply-ing it to multiple piece rrioulcs.
For reliefs the technique presents few pl-oblemis as long as the wax is the correct thickness snd the two sides of the mould are well anchored together.
I encountered trouble through allov/ing the negative to dry before completing the mould. This causes differential shrj.nkage which in turn gives rise to bad cracking of the mould. Slower firing would probably minimize this difficulty also.
This, technique is excellent for speedy, Inexpensive casting of deeply undercut and detailed work.
It's only disadvantage is that each casting is one off.
5. CpTil^i'';;cf-ramic shell and ludo investment
To attempt to use the tv/o for their coE'blvied advantages made sense.
The first exr^erirrent v/as encouraging. Here t^e gated wax was covered with three coats of ceramic shell slurry. Tart of the wax v/as given a layer of molocite. The mould v;as then completed as with ludo moulding. The mould was fired relatively quickly. To my surprise the cast work had little flashing and where the ceramic shell with molocite was anT^lied the finish was excellent. Where only slurry was applied this had senarated from the ludo and thin film of bronze had run between wixh unsatisfactory results.
To make this.method v;ork one must use three good Ipyers of slurry, three Ir-yers of molocite, making sure each drys thorough-ly. Further, no molocite or slurry -should enter the inside of the wax.
The miain advantages of this technique are the excellence of finish and the shortening of firing time when compared to ludo casting. v;hen compared to ceramic shell investment the technique allows miuch larger sections to he cast, with less welding, chasing end likelyhood of distortion.
6. Sealing moulds and v;axes
i In ludo casting m.uch of the wax is lost through' being absorbed into the mould, only to be'burnt off in the firing. This I thought was a waste'and extended the firing time. To get around this I ex-oerimented with coating waxes and the inside of moulds with various skins. Combinations of shellac, PYA glue and poly-urithane varnish were tried with what appeared to be mcrginal success. I found that even very fine cracks in the mould were enough to pierce the coatings, particularly if applied to the mould. This meant that some absorbtion still occured. If applying skins to waxes, care had to be tsken not to leave brush marks. Also, coating the interior of large waxes would be very difficult.
Conclusion
.-'eGthetio achievements
A su.^marv
At the beginning of the year I v.-as concerned above all to harness the myriad interests, ideas and influences I hcd collected over the years and to -^ut some of these into a series of works
which would form the foundation and orientation for my further development as an artist. To iiTi'cart some cohesion and dis'cinTiTie into this pursuit. I chose to impose on nyself the constraint of working in relief. Upon subseauent reflection this a-pDeared quite sensible, as working in relief v;ould be for me an extention^of my interest in painting.and drawing.
In rr.y proposal I had left my options onen bv allov;ing my-self the possibility cf working in relief and "like formats". In some works my interpretation of the terir."like formats" has been quite liberal.
To underscore the intended link between mjr 2D and 3D vork I am presenting several drawings and naintings as part of mv
exhibition. ' - - .. The ph9tc£r?-.h= of trees fvo'? Charlotte Pass sre
meant to indicate ^he starting point for this years body of work. Cn visiting that area in the winter of 19S2, l'v/as struck by the strong suggestivEness of the scenery and in particular by these brilliant natural presentations. V;hile net all the works" relate visually to this starting point, there is in all cf them a shared • theme,! which derives from it. This theme being the exploitati.on
of lands and people by large organizations. The works are, for me, attempted depictions o'f the im.agery of power and of my perceptions of how things and peorle reset to being exploited.
It is not m.y intention that this theme should be obtrusive or that this should be their only "raison d'etre"
Each work can be looked at in various ways, S?ch work shoul.d con-tinue to unravel itself through time,
A fine v/ork will net cease to attract ones interest.
The recurring lorn-.al characteristics of all the works are the resolution of hard vs soft, straight vs curve, vertical vs hori^ont'l, still vs movement and light vs dark.
Basic images used are straight and curved cylinders, simple r^risms, spheres and curved horns. There is no significance in the choice of these fundamental forms other than that they are "clean" elements with v/hich to start.
All the works have been cast in either aluminium, bronze or cement fondue.
?our methods '••ere. used in casting into aluminium .and bronze. They ere as follows:
1. constructing waxes from slabs and precast sections 2. making a plaster mould from clay modelling, which in
turn is used to make a v/ax
3. plaster and sand mould straight from clay modelling, this being used -s the mould"for the actual metal castin; 4. comibinations of 1 and 2.
I prefer these techniques as they allow immediacy and flexibility in the execution of an idea.
technicuen- 1 and 2 ^ eg work 3S.
I intend to further exploit these processes.
All the v.'orks were begun in an exr.erirr.ental spirit. (Tor rae this murt he the most rrotrinent characteristic of plessing nrt.) It may be noted though, that my v/orks have a dated aiopearance. Only tirr.e v/ill tell whether I am being really conservative, or that I air sensibly using these modes of image making as a sound basis fron which to develoD. It is quite easy to hop (or be bulldosed) onto the "ultra modern" band wagon, only to be booted off in a state of confusion at a later date... .
In conjunction with iry work and through it, I h?ve pondered on the notions of tradition and conventions in art, what they are and hov. much one should deviate from or stay by them, '.'hat is sculpture? V.'hat is good art? Cne has determined to stay cle-?r of doctrinaire answers to the questions...! (This, as it turns out, is a hazardous approach.)
To rr:e there appears tc be wisdom in learning about var: ous techniques, practices and traditions.
I did rot pursue the idea of using paint to enhance 5D statements. The im-presslon I received around the sculpture denart-oent, was that this was tantamount to sEcri]e~p , so in the intei-esf of my esteem amongst the staff, I resolved to ?;bandon the idea
for this year.
xii IITTIITGS
The three -paintings were produced in Jcnuary 1933 and are the beginning of the years work. Taintlngs 1 and 2 are in a v/ay a summary of directions thus far taken, while painting "5 is for me a new direction.
The paintings, or rather the raint drawings, v/ere done in mono-chrome for several reasons: The most irriportant of these being to relate the painting directly to the reliefs through, their conimon tonsl element. Further, strong tonality, I believed v;ou]d focus the viewer onto the form in the works. (I wanted to emulate this strength of tone in.the sculptures) The directions shovm in the TDaintings, sre largely as a result of four influences:
1. my fascination with the black and white photo-graphs from Charlotte Pass
2. my interest in Chinese monochrome ink painting (the flexible use of a restricted medium) 3. Hindu sculpture, (the expression of-sensuality
with simplified forms) and
4. fne painting ''Guernica" by Pablo Ticasso. This painting I admire greatly as it is not only a potent v/ork in formal terms, but also hcs a truely stinging and forceful message.
Painting 3 v/as based on -ohotographs from Charlotte Passi These trees struck me iir.med.iately as having the qualities of Chinese painting, rarticularly with their m.any tones and textures. This became even more obvious in the black and white rhotograrhs. The imager;/ in these trees I found complex. Primcrily, it is the tree's obvious struggle to"hang on" to existance at tbe edge of the snow line.This strong allusion could be interpreted in many ways. The painting aims at hightening some of m,y interpretations of this impge.
I noted on that visit to the ^'onaro the totality of European occupation. The once nur erous indigenous peonle'and their culture have'been enniiril'-ted and the land has been stripped of almost every native tree. During that winter visit,huge dust clouds could been seen rising from the stricken
soil.-Some of my woi-ks are based on thoughts about this kind of arrogance. In nainting 3 I have begun to nlay v/ith various
kinds of paint application. It was my intention to carry this variety of surface over to the relief".
DRAWIKGS
Drawing is an integral comrsonent of the way I •••ork. It is not only e. rich wode in it's own right, but is also s merns of devising and vetting j.deas hoth for painting and sculpture. As soulTture has taken precedence this year my dra.v/ing output has been low.
The drav/ings produced hpve a strong relationship to the sculptures. Rather than being depictions of a particular'scul-oture, each drawing is .-^n indiTFton of e direction froir. which various sculptures (or t-intir.gs) niciy ensue. '
_ _
3CDir:ruRES
(Fe'bru-r2/) The w o r k s 1 - 4 - w e r e the b e g i n n i n g of my scul-otural e f f o r t .
The sim in these was to use " very cuick riethod of m o d e l l i n g , to treat clay aljiost like i m p s s t o . K o n e of the w o r k s took more than a couple of h o u r s .
In each case clay was applied in more or less round s t r i p s . These v/ere h u i l t u p on top of each other u n t i l en image develor)ed. Some clay w a s m e r e l y layed in n l a c e , some r.ressed and sorr.e throv/n. G t h e r parts of the reliefs were irodelled. I experimented with clay of various c o n s i s t e n c i e s .
I hoDed in these w o r k s to carryover the v a r i e t y of apnlication of the r a i n t i n g s .
To cast all these works I used the direct ludo castins: technique (as described in t e c h n i c a l development cage 3 rjoint 4 ) .
The aluminium ndece is by far the m.ost impressive of the f o u r . Of m o s t interest to me are its deer) voids.snd enigmatic a r r a n g e m e n t of leaf l i k e " s p l o t c h e s " . The harsh confinement of the frame is b r o k e n at several p o i n t s ,
I did n o t successfully develop this initial a c h i e v e m e n t .
A l u m d n i u m v/as used ss it lent itself b y its colour to my experim.ents with toncl v a r i a t i o n . It is also an ar.propriate m o d e r n m a t e r i a l .
(? u ry -K s r c h)
V.'ork 5 v/cs modelled very early in the year and v/^s the aeginrdng of another stream of investigation, namely, that of casting sculp-tures in sections and joining same after casting, using a variety ' of fixing methods. This investigation was not thoroughly carried out during triis year.
The four lower sections were modelled separately cut on and around each other, v.'hile the U'^per rectangular component v/a,s modelled indei^endently. The full integration of the uj'^er • lov/er sections is incoir.rlete, hov/ever a start was nia.de using
marks on the surface. Sonie tine will need to be s-^ent yet, resolving this work. I felt such an effort was not warrented this year. The work v;as important from the point of view that it xa.de clearer for me- how I should orient T:yself during the year. ?or a start, I v.'ould not he relying so heavily on ideas and concerts stored up, rather I would need to he more fTexible and exneri'':er!tal .
Desoite being described variousl"*." as "i-urgid modelling" and being "similar, to a garden gnome" the"work still has potential and v/ill be completed s.t a later date.
"ork 6 (April)
. The v;ax for the aluminium section of this work was the first coriStructed using -nrefabricated units i.e. spheres, cylinders and slabs.
It v.'as hegun hy bending and piercing a large slab of wax, where ur-on the other units were bonded.
FroT; the beginning it seemed flag like. The logical conseauence of this v;as to mount the piece on a pole. This "tyre of Presentation was quite new for me. The pole and base seer.ed to"greatly enhance the statement. Also, the rear of the relief automatically became part of the work. The -cole simultaneously elevates, em-ohasizes and
anim-tes the objcct.
It was this work v;hieh lead me to the notion of making rseudo e;.blems (i. e. imagery of rower), to use ? v.'ork as a sign, an"'• encapsulated symbol.
These signs may entice one to contemplate the use of emblems, flags coats of arms etc. ( works 15 - IS are further explorations •
ofthis sign-emblem-theme). " . The Imagery in this work is deliberatly complicated. The overall
quality, however, is one of a still life arrangement. Viewed from the rear it has an achitectural character(quite inadvertent).
•.•••ork 7 (Kay)
This work, a sketch, is by and l^rge a misfit in this years body of work.
It was the only work made using the conventional technique of taking a wax positive from, a plaster mould, and also it is only very vaguely related to my stated theme.
It is what I would call, frivolous, in that it is purely a sensory (and sensual)piece.
Itwas meant to be a form of note taking, combining the forms of a mud crab and the figure.
V.'ork 8 (June) ' "" •
After the .foundry workshop' earlier in the year I was-keen to utilize some of mv" new found knowledge of flexible moulds;
I had discovered en intriguing "brrnch while collecting fire wood.! was initially only interested in drawing the object and to develon images from it. I decided however to take a casting of it using a flexible ir-ould, whence several waxes were taken. Using such a natural "obiet trouve" in a work was for me something new and had hither to been quite distasteful. !;evertheless, in the interest of loosening myself UD, I endeavoured to integrate one of these waxes into a'con?;truc tion. The v-ax copy of the branch was in tv.'o h a l v e s " h e s e were used in combination v.-ith snootr slabs of wax to construct this object.
Aluminium v/as used for it's incongruity and to magnify the statement about manipulation.
The wood sections of the piece are ful"" of strange motifs for the viewer who cares to ]pok closer.
This kind of scul-cting is very gratifying, as the actual decision making is usually deft and decisive. The result is a fresh, alr.ost casual finish.
The formal problem of juxtarosing organic with geometric has, if I dare say so, been resolved in asublte, even witty wav. (I am not averse to- having any of my work read in a comical way.;
The work should preferably be seen as a double sided relief.
V.'ork 9 (June)
In tbis work I was continuing ideas 'that had been used in the three years before 19B3. The said works v;ere a hybrid of ideas, collected from the Heraklion museum (Cretian clay-sculptures r.ade from various wheel throvvn forms joined together) rnd my visit to Khajuraho (sensuality "oresented in siriplified forms).
The basic forms of this work are, the STihere, cylinder, horn shape and sim.ple prisms.
The technique used affords quick construction, while the round forms and subtle bends and folas lend,the work a deftness difficult to achieve in steel scul-pture,.
The final effect, in this case, is"? lively coll-ge like finish,with dribbles and gTueings contrasting v/ith sharply cut edges.
The •••.'ork v.-as darkened with acid and then given ? light coat of polish.
Vhile having the humourous quality mentioned, in relation to the last piece, it also has 3 sturdy miajesty, reminiscent (in m.y eyes anyway)'of some ancient Chinese bronzes.
KQIL.
7 i C t > i t^o C .
V'ork 10 (May)
As with several of my other works this one vas the result of diverging corapletly from what was initially intended.
The upper section v;ss m e a n t to he a develoTiment of a tree fork and was suT-^posed to form part of a relief based on painting 3. The lower section v;ithout the tuhes etc, v.-as rrjcdelled independently of the tree fork -oart. At the beginning I placed the two sections arbitrarily together and proceeded from there to add the various don:es, tuhes end horns.
-'s with tbe last two works this one was constructed in a casual, light handed fashion. • •
A patina v;as snplied ty burning linseed oil onto the surface then"rerr^oving rrost of this by sandblasting. Gome are's' were lightly polished.
The" work is. ir.enacing and suggestive.
V/ork 11 (June)
In t h i s tomb stone like iir-.age I atterr.pted to malie a develoTJrrent of the images frorri the branch I had cast, (with marginal success). It is also a further look at treating clay in a -Daintily way. Kuch of the sharper detail wps lost in the casting process.
V.'ork 12 (June)
Tfe aim in this work yss to make s deep relief tased on a group of peoiDle,cloud forT,ations and landscape.
I'jf ijiterest here was focused on form and tone variations rather than surface texture. The paleness ^nd the grey textures help the work give a soft and s],ov,'ly billov/ing effect. It would be preferable to view the -niece in a dorcestic envlrcnn:ent.
In this and v;orks 5 and 11 I used for the first time cerrent fondue and fibre glrss. The resi^lt is not dipsimilar to polyester resin casts,' but cheaper and leps of a health hazard.
•..ork 13 (o'une/July) '
This was the tentative development of nainting
Here more of my attention was given over to the technical nroblem of casting such a large otiect.
The mould was made'in four sections using ludo Instead of -oure plaster. I believed the sections thus cast would slot exactly together after casting to be welded. These moulds sat to dry for more than a month and therein lay the r.roblem. There v/as considerable distortion of the final casts, hence the visible joins. Also, in casting this work I vrent to considerable trouble '-nd
expense painting the moulds and v/ax with shellac.' IVA and r.oly-urithane varnish, experimenting with wax .conservation. Because of the great distortion in the moulds this work was in vein, i.e. they cracked.
Time was spent trying out various finishes on this rAece, such as sand blasting, polishing and engraving. I opted to -polish the work.
Wc/kJ!^, 11 i^ooci
1-iz-Cc*^ X f
I / O 0 5; hr/i.-yiil fl r)
Vcrk 14 (oTuly)
Tov;ards the udd^le of the year I was exasperated as a result of iry whole approach thus far.
I had sc!T;e i:.r,£ering desires (and still do) to v/ork in steel, concrete and vood.
This work (unfinished) vas the result of this alchemy.
It has the beginnings of soiriething but w?.s "hfndoned as heing to great a divergence from v/hat I v/as then involved in.
v-ork 15 (July/August)
I'odelled in clay and cast usinij the sair.e techniques as v.'orks, ]. - 3- The work is intentionally displayed "'."'ith the hack exnosed, this reveals the results of severe cracking of the mould. The viewer c'n make of this effect v/hat they v/ill.
The oron^./' hand holding the piece was \~eparately fabri-cated. The sq.uare "base is both functional ^.nd en appropriate contrast to the casting, which is irregular 'nd iagged in places. The work can be read "s a bust, s still- life, an emblem or all three.
Vork 16 (August)
This is E very sensual -Diece u.:?ir.r nisinly v/.-ster
like motifs. The exposed hack has the wehoed effect • s in the l£st "iece hut is rainted sky hlue and has the rini in exposed hron^e. The
steel stand has the s-ir.e effect as in work 6.
The -natina is made with hydrochloric acid ^nd transparent v/ax. In the v;ork there is s iileasing balance between simrjli-city of line and the rigour of the writring i-.Tiage.
The exposed rear seems- to be less relevant than in
15-Vork 17 (August)
In this bronze the ob;iective was to grapple v;lth the clas? between sharp geometric forr.s and soft fleshlike eienents.
5.1
-V'ork IS (August - Cctccer)
In "relation to all my earlier work' this rroduction
is reallj- ^uite e. change, "ir^tly, it is the result of considerahly more effort thsn I have ever spent on a single v/ork. Cecondly,-it v;as constructed in 2 vsy totally alien to me, nen'ly, the six main sections v;ere cunstructed in almost total isolation from each other, then placed together in a single, relatively short event. This event v/as the most difficult yet pleasing stage in . this v/ork.
Cver the period of shout S hours the pieces were juggled around until the desired coirT:osition was discovered. This heirg done, so-e ssall additions were made to waxes and v/hole thing vas dis-ir.anteled for casting.
. The general conceit I started with was to juxtapose organic forms v/ith georretric ones to form an ix-r^age closly related to the p h " f r o m Charlotte I-ass. Further, the work was meant to have a strong vertical quality with interlaced branch like forms.
Along the way I "let" rryself he distracted and diverted hy ell manner of forces, v/ith the result that the work was not to he as I had T>lrnne.c, .particularly in respect of making it related to my Charlotte Tas-s photographs.
The work w,as constructed fully in wax using sha.pes cast from m.odelled clay, sheets of wax and castings made frcm turned wood.
1 The actual casting into aluminium v/as a very arduo'us •orocepc. Several casting faults had to become -cz.rt of the work. Tn being cast the pieges did not fit together Precisely as inter'ded. The problem was solved by making several small brackets,one of v/hich nov/ forms part of the composition.
The components are held together with !3/'16" and screv/s tapped into the aluminium, as well as with hooks fastened in a similar v/ay.
Various sections of the v/ork were polished while others were made matt by sand blasting. The reflections attained by polishing greatly enhance t^-e piece.
The end result is ~ com.-^lex work with several centers ofaction" , connected by strong visible as v/ell as imrilied lines. The STiace under the small rectangular nlatforr: has the effect of animating or elevatinr the up^er parts of the work v/hile the reflections in the horizontal surface of tha.t platform imprrt a.transparent waterlike quality.
