BLOG05: Oct. 30., 2021
GATHERING IN CASTING
I have been collecting fingers and gestures from friends and folks in my nearby community to consider fragments of social forms, gathering them and documenting them through various casting techniques. An exploration of gesture as a directional indication, I see this as relating to breaking down exclusionary approaches in traditional foundry practices, and pointing towards a beautifully, wildly diverse, and inclusive future.
After making many small molds out of reused materials, I use an alginate mixture to take molds with generous volunteers and eager learners of casting. After duplicating their fingers in wax, I recombine them into new forms that memorialize this gathering. While traditional monuments and memorials function in a system of individualism, both in subject as well as artist opportunity, I find it more radical to highlight community as both the subject and makers of public art.
I also did an experiment this week with a group of students recording collected gestures into a sand mold, intuitively carved directly with one’s hands. I didn’t get a picture of it yet, but I am really excited about the way it came out and will prepare some larger forms like this to try at our public foundry pour next week. I look forward to sharing them and taking more pictures of the collaboration to share here soon.