The lift

The unwrap

The wheel goes in pt.2

After the mixing the wheel went in...

Kayne Jackson to the rescue!

So on seeing my desperation my friend Kayne comes to my aid and in the nicest way tells me I'm using the wrong sort of plaster, I'm mixing it in the wrong way and that there's no way I've bought enough plaster to make one of my slabs let alone four. I panic even more. What am I going to do then? Kayne tells me not worry and he"ll give me a hand tomorrow. What?! What a mate.
So the next day me and Kayne go down a builders yard round the corner from the FEED studio and get three bags of the right sort of plaster (bonding plaster) at a third of the price of the plaster of paris. Not only does Kayne tell what we need he brings a mixing bucket, a drill and the mixing bit for the drill! What a mate.
So three hours and a whole lot of dust and splashes later Kayne has helped me (or as you can see from the photos done it pretty much for me) and we are filling the frame full of lovely mixed bonding plaster!

This makes me the happiest I've been in a fortnight.

So... it went wrong, again.

So I had almost (but not completely) given up on the slab in my back garden because it just wasnt getting any dryer. It got to the point with it that I was soaking water off the top of it and everytime I did this more water would appear. I'm pretty sure it will never dry out.
So I thought I would give it another go but this time in the FEED studio where the rain wouldn't get to it and it would be all round dryer. With the help of my friend Imi we dragged all the plaster and wood in the studio to give it another go. This time I thought it would work better if instead of putting the plaster into the water if I out the water into the plaster and do it a batch at a tme and pour it into the second frame in college. "A plan without any drawbacks!" I thought...
So the fame and tarpaulin are in place ans I start mixing the plaster. I feel so good I've got it all under control and the first mix is spot on. The right consistancy and just how it should be. Not like the stupid one in my back garden?!? I pour it out in the mold and I start on the next batch. Disaster strikes. This batch isnt going as well and is going off in the washing up bowl I'm mixing this in!? (The first picture below) I keep trying with it for a bit and it's just getting worse and worse. Then another friend Kayne comes round to see what's going on and fiends me stressing about how nothing is going right and sees the solid lump of plaster (pictures 2 and 3 below) sat in the frame and, in the nicest possible way, tells me this isn't going to work...

I'm losing faith that this will ever work at this point.

Argh!!!

I'm boring myself writing these updates because it seems no matter how much plaster I put in it doesn't make any difference.

Ok. When I got to it today it had been there since saturday and it had hardened up a bit but not much but there was definitely no water on top of it. So I mix it all up again and add tons more plaster to help it solidify and dry out quicker. Makes sense right? Then when I just check on it it's softer and waterier (? more water on top) than when it was when I got to it after work today!? How does that make any sense? I haven't added any more water to it but have added more plaster so it should dry it out but somehow it's wetter than it was before?!

Again I really hope it doesn't rain tonight...

Start again

Well strickly speaking that's not true but the slab still hasn't dried and it's now over 48 hours since I made it. So I've stirred it all up again and added loads more plaster to try and make it set quicker. I really hope this works. But if it doesn't I'm no worse off than I was before I did it. Either way I'm happier with this imprint of the wheel much more than the previous slab.

(I've also bought more wood so hopefully tomorrow I can crack on with another frame and make a second slab!)

Not there yet

Yeah it didn't rain last night and it's been one of the nicest days for ages and really warm today but my flipping monolith still hasn't dried solid!? It's a sort of squigy damp jelly that I think is going to take ages to set so I'm going to buy more wood tomorrow and hope I can build another frame and get going on the second one.

Almost there

It didn't rain last night!
But it still hasn't dried properly.
But I'm hoping the sun will sort this out tody and then I'll get the mix right next time. I'm also thinking of mixing it in the mold next time instead of the blue plastic Sainsbury's crate that I used this time.

Hurry up

I put the last watery lot of plaster on about 4 hours ago and it's still nowhere near drying. I really hope it doesn't rain tonight because I can't move it before it dries and I haven't got anything to cover it with other than the tarpaulin it's sat in. Hope it survives the night...

Marathon

Johnny Hardstaff's piece for Asics titled 'Marathon' has also been a big influence on my FMP. I love that the slight glimpses you get that hint towards it being Japanese and running related with the almost cryptic images, combined with the athletes breathing over the top and how the pace changes. It is with Rachel Whiteread's monolithic sculptues and Johnny Hardstaff's projected images in mind that I have decied to create 4 monolithic white slabs with negative reliefs of bike parts whilst bike related images are projected onto parts of them and onto the wall behind the for my FMP

Rachel Whiteread

Should have put these up sooner but Rachel Whiteread, Turner Prize winner in 1993, has been a big influence on my FMP. Her sculptures are so imposing obviuosly by there size but also by their monolithic nature. 'House' is overwhelming by it's size alone but as with 'Ghost' the aspect that interests me is that they are reliefs. This was much more suitable because I wanted to project some bike related designs/drawings onto a bike and for it to cast shadows but once Rachel Whiteread was brought to my attention (by Adam Guy) the idea of creating negative reliefs was much more interesting.

Rachel Whiteread is also well know for here piece 'Embankment' that appeared in the Tate Modern, also pictured.

The wheel goes in!

I'm really pleased with how this is turning out but today's been a nightmare.
The last lot of mixed plaster that I put on was too watery and it's been on for a good couple of hours in the sunshine and it's still not dry and there is now a pool of water sitting on top of it...

The plaster goes in

This was a lot harder than I expected.
The little practices were loads easier than this, I'm that's not a great surprise but mixing the quantities was a nightmare.
Anyway, it's getting there.

Frame Academy

Update

Update

Bike snaps

Over the weekend I got my friend John Newbold from the 383 Project to photograph me on the bike so that I coud incorporate some of the photgraphs into my installation. Here are some of them before I have worked on them: