Back again, just a few more images that relate to my project. The first one, 'Origin of the beginning 1.3', is by dutch photographer Levi Van Veluw is a self portrait. I like it because the figure blends into the background almost becoming invisible. Leaving you with a 'sense' of its presence.
The second image,'A table la chaise electrique No1' (The electric chair), is by french photographer Laurence Demaison. "Using a process known as 'dissimulation', a technique in which back lighting, reflections and saturated whites conceal or disguise the subjects true form, creating a disturbing yet fascinating world". Again I think it creates a sense of 'real or unreal' which could be applied to my project.
Images and reference from the book 'Crazy Photographt' by Diane Routex.

Hello bloggers, I've been doing some research on transparent or semi-transparent imagery for my project. As I'm sure I must have mentioned, I think to project a 'sense' of something it needs to be kind of vague, mysterious, semi-solid. I really like the work of chinese artist Liu Bolin. As you can see from these images he paints himself to blend-in to any whichever background he chooses making him appear almost invisible. Even after finding him in the image there is a certain ghost-like quality to his presence.

 

I have a few more good images to upload but it's taking too long on this computer. I'll try again tomorrow on one of the college computers - dead fast in comparison.

Well I made another casting from the mold, this time using a material I hadn't heard of before - Jesmonite. I think it's a mixture of plaster and resin so it's fairly strong when set. Not surprisingly it went a bit pear shaped as I left the mixture in the mold overnight (to set). Unfortunately when I tried to remove the cast it had set to the mold. Did I mention that you live and learn? I think that next time I should do a bit of research into the correct procedure before I go casting again.
So the mold had to be broken to get the Jesmonite cast out. As it happens there were bits of the plaster mold still stuck to the Jesmonite which actually looked cool so I decided to leave them there for now.

O.k. so maybe it looks a bit wierd but there's potential for experimenting. Any way if you think that looks wierd check out the next image. I decided to try and faintly colour the cracks that occured in the first wax cast. On hindsight I guess using watered down ink or even watercolour paint might have worked better, but at the time I used watered down acrylic paint which didn't really achieve the result I was going for. As you can see from the image the whole cast ended up coloured. Turned into a bit af a happy accident though as it gave the whole thing a new dimension. It's a bit freaky though - you need to see it in the flesh, so to speak. Still, it's given me a new angle for experimenting with ideas so i'll keep ye posted.

Hello fellow bloggers, I have been doing a bit of casting from the mould I made last week. Hopefully I can upload images of these (without losing them).
     
As you can see the original mould was a bit fragile so it had to be reinforced with clay. Apparently I didn't need as much clay as I used but sure you live and learn. After packing clay around the mould it was ready for casting.
 I had planned to do a fibreglass resin cast but it wasn't possible on the day so I made the first casting with wax. This is the result of the first attempt. Not surprisingly mistakes were made. Left to my own devices I had assumed that the melted wax gets poured into the mould - so thats what I did. Didn't realise (until it started leaking) that the wax should be built up in layers. Luckily one of the technicians was on hand to show me the correct proceedure.


The second casting was more succesful, though I may have left the cast in the mould longer than I should have - it was a struggle to remove. This cast was also stronger and thicker as I had a better idea of what to do. I also noticed that the mould is starting to deteriorate a bit, possibly due to leaving the wax in to long on the second attempt. I was going to try a rubber casting next but it looks like there's none left till the new year so I'll try fibreglass resin instead. Watch this space.

Hi again, since I last posted I've done a bit more with the plastic straps. The original cylindrical shape was based on a leg so I continued with that as you can see from the images.

It is difficult to maintain the desired lines as the straps retained there original folds to an extent but with practise I'm sure some good results could be achieved. I also stapled any joints together which proved awkward as the gaps got smaller so maybe using hot glue or similar would be more efficient.

 

As you've seen before I previously made a plaster-bandage mould of my hand, well half of it, intending to make the other half and join them with a hinge of some sort. The idea being that the mould could be opened (like a box) to show the amount of space my hand uses / needs. It's also a representation of a 'sense' of my presence - at least the hand - as you can't help imagining the hand that once occupied this empty space. After discovering the convenience of plaster-bandage to create moulds I have to confess I was like a small child with a new toy. Are the possibilities endless? Anyway I'm afraid to say the other half of the hand mould got put on hold as I was itching to make a mould of my face and hadn't enough plaster-bandage to do both. I went with the face. This process takes a bit of planning, especially if your alone when trying it. I had to consider stuff like covering the eyes - when closed. Breathing - often useful - could have been a problem as like most people at the moment I have a head cold and would have to breath through my nose. As I knew the p-b would set fairly quickly I decided to take a chance on my nose staying clear, a hot whiskey also helps. It turned out the p-b didn't actualy set as quickly as I'd anticipated (10 mins). Setting the alarm on my mobile for 10 mins after I'd applied the final piece of p-b - left eye - I sat and waited, eyes covered, mouth covered, hoping I wouldn't get a blocked nose. Thank God I'm not claustrophobic.

So (a long) 10 mins later when the alarm on the mobile rang, I felt the p-b wasn't yet set enough so decided to wait a bit longer before removing the mould. As I couldn't see the buttons on the mobile when switching off the alarm I was pleased to hear, after 1 minute, the alarm going off again - with an update on the time, luckily. Must have a snooze facility but for only 1 minute - that can get annoying. And it did.  In fact it was twenty minutes after the first alarm before I was confident that the p-b had set firmly enough. Naturally it didn't just lift off as I'd expected. Took another five minutes of gentle persuasion and cursing, and maybe a few seconds of panicking, but I got it off in one piece and I have to say I'm quiet pleased with the result. Think I'll need to reinforce it though as it's a bit fragile. It's kind of like a face shaped poppadom at the moment. Pity I hadn't thought of doing this in time for Halloween - maybe I could've made a good mask from the mould (obviously with alterations....to make it scary......o.k. scarier)

Hi guy's, guess it's been a while since I last posted. We got our essay subject's so I've been reading up on those topic's. With regards to my project I was trying out some new materials. I had gathered some light twigs from the garden, not sure what plant the're from, but they are still green and very flexible. My intention was to mimic the wire-frame style of construction to create cylindrical shapes. Just experimenting as yet. Making small circles proved difficult, as did joining the twigs together. Twisting several together gave a nice effect - sort of like the tendons, sinews, viens etc. that you might see on a human body. There is also something very primitive, instinctive, about working with natural materials.

I have been wanting to try out paper mache as a material as I've never made anything with it before. As I had made a cast of my hand in plaster before I wanted to see if this could be done in paper mache.
Not sure about the mixture I made but after an hour it was still damp. This is after applying to my hand and trying to dry, after 30 minutes, with a hair dryer. I was unable to cover much of my hand as I kept moving it, should've kept it flat on the table. I'll have to look up or create a quicker drying mixture but the result wasn't that bad. I think I also need to decide on a pose for my piece so that I discover  any construction problems early on.

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I also tried using some plastic straps to create shapes. In this case I used the straps that hold bales of briquettes together. Though very flimsy on their own, once joined together in a structured way they begin to take on some rigidity. Some problems I encountered were eliminating the angles caused by the bales, you can fold them kind of straight but they spring back after a while. There is also the supply to consider, it's surprising how quickly they dissapear ( I used 7 making the shape in the photo). Definately worth using again, maybe combined with something else. Their lightness is a big plus for larger projects.