Dream, New Series, and the Infamous Piss Patina
I had a dream a several months ago that I was at a pour, all the regular folks in attendance. We were pouring aluminum with Francis and Nels manning the crucible and myself doing the job of slag and patch. Suddenly, the crucible spilled into the sandpit and completely filled, which is entirely impossible because the crucible does not hold anywhere near enough aluminum to fill the pit. Everyone scattered except for me. Unexpectedly I felt myself falling backwards into the pit. As my body sunk slowly, the pit filled with metal. However, I realized I wasn't burning but rather merging with the metal as if I was becoming metal myself, which caused a very strange physical sensation. I continued to sink until eventually only my face was exposed. When I opened my mouth to scream before becoming completely submerged, I woke up!
Weird dream!!
The following sculptures (in progress) are the response.
These pieces are about midway through the finish process. I have spent several hours removing residue left over from the molds used to cast them. They were then sandblasted, followed by a few hours doing the first half of the finish sanding, down to about a 600 grit.
After this comes the fun part! People often ask me what chemicals I use to get the vivid greens and blues in my finished pieces. The answerer is simple: I take them outside and leave them in the weather, often for months, and every chance I get I piss on them. Yup you heard right! The ammonia in urine makes for some really great color! While you can use store bought ammonia, urine has something else in it that lends to a more vivid color. The color shifts based on different human or animal urine. I have experimented with cat and dog urine and have had male friends oblige, which has resulted in relatively dramatic shifts in color. I have yet to have a woman oblige, but I am very interested in seeing if it would provide any different results. I know that female dog urine kills grass while male dog urine does not, so there is obviously a difference in the chemistry of canine urine. Whether or not this is true with human urine, I'm not sure! I think I will go now and see if I can convince my wife to pee in a cup for me!
Weird dream!!
The following sculptures (in progress) are the response.
These pieces are about midway through the finish process. I have spent several hours removing residue left over from the molds used to cast them. They were then sandblasted, followed by a few hours doing the first half of the finish sanding, down to about a 600 grit.
After this comes the fun part! People often ask me what chemicals I use to get the vivid greens and blues in my finished pieces. The answerer is simple: I take them outside and leave them in the weather, often for months, and every chance I get I piss on them. Yup you heard right! The ammonia in urine makes for some really great color! While you can use store bought ammonia, urine has something else in it that lends to a more vivid color. The color shifts based on different human or animal urine. I have experimented with cat and dog urine and have had male friends oblige, which has resulted in relatively dramatic shifts in color. I have yet to have a woman oblige, but I am very interested in seeing if it would provide any different results. I know that female dog urine kills grass while male dog urine does not, so there is obviously a difference in the chemistry of canine urine. Whether or not this is true with human urine, I'm not sure! I think I will go now and see if I can convince my wife to pee in a cup for me!
posted by samuel at 2:37 PM
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