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Almost done! Just need to get another metal pipe to connect the two white canisters. This is what it would look like (although when it is finished it will be upright, balancing on the large white canister)
Attempting to glue gun on smaller canister.
Glue gun didn’t work! Need to find another solution!
Unfortunately the araldite solution didn’t work- the mixture either wasn’t strong enough or I didn’t mix it properly! So today I went to N.01 to glue gun the canister to the metal plate. However, this too was not strong enough. I may have to, on the day of construction, glue the canister last minute on to the pipes- so that I use the weight of the cannisters and gravity to help hold it in place as well. In the meantime, I need to Cut another pipe to connect the two white canisters and will hopefully be able to book in to the metal workshop soon!
On Friday I welded a two metal plates and a nut and bolt to the end of a pipe to which I could attach the smaller blue canister. This was because I was apprehensive as to whether all the gas had been removed from the canister (You could hear a certain something when you held it to your ear, could still smell some residue) and drilling a hole in to the bottom would thus prove quite dangerous (boom!). I am really pleased with the welding, however- Im certain it will attach well to the canister with araldite (a really strong glue used for metal).
Rough layout of pipes and canisters.
Canister sitting on metal plate.
Metal Plate welded on to bolt and connected to a smaller welded metal plate.
A plate I welded on to a metal pipe and cut down to a smaller circle.
Through my work I would really like to resist the sense of a pristine, clean, neat, ‘finished’, white space, untouchable installation. Instead, throughout my practice, I have constantly leant towards the nitty gritty, dirty, ‘ok, that’ll do’ result. I find works which attain such qualities more human, relatable and true to life. They speak to the viewer, allow them to enter their space, rather than detract with a subjugating stare.
Hence, wherever possible I intend to keep signs of neglect, the process of formation and unsteady but ‘capable’ elements.
I suppose what I am trying to allude to is that…
The world and its inhabitants aren’t perfect- so why should we strive for perfection? Perfection does not make sense. It is inhuman. We should embrace slow processes, instability, neglected histories, problems left unsolved- and contemplate them with loving affection rather than repulsion.
This message/conecpt may not be crystal clear through the eyes of the viewer- but I intend to use this as a motive for my work, perhaps contribute to the (continued) development of a particular aesthetic or ‘style’.
Today I returned to the metal workshop to make some progress on my piece. Today I focused on the smaller canister and making sure that was secured somehow on to the other two. To begin, with I sawed off the gas outlet so that the pipe could fit snugly over the top. Then I drilled a hole in the pipe and welded a bolt above the hole so that I could use a screw to keep the pipe in place. This would make sure the pipe would stay strongly fixed on to the canister whilst at the same time able to be taken apart and transported easily.
Progress is slow because it has proved a fiddly process with multiple steps, techniques and machines so far- but I am really happy with the progress I have made and the new skills I have learnt. I would say I am now fairly confident with welding and using the angle grinder as well as the drill, metal bender and cutter. (Those aren’t the technical names of the machines I’m sure- their proper names have escaped me!)
The Nut and bolt I welded on to fix the pipe to the canister.
The Nut and bolt I welded on to fix the pipe to the canister.
Photos of the piece so far.. Not a continuous containment just yet…
Today I went in to the metal workshop to connect my canisters together.
I found that some of the canisters were still, in fact, full of gas- so I had to purge them (which took a couple of hours in itself!). To so so, I drilled a hole in the bottom of the canisters and filled them with water, which forced the gas out.
Next I cut some spare pipes to the lengths that I wanted them before bending them and welding them on to some threads which would then screw on to the canisters. I used threads so that the piece will become an amalgam of lots of separate parts which can be easily assembled and transportable.
I learnt how to weld and reminded myself how to use the angle grinder and metal bender. A very fulfilling and satisfying process. I love seeing the sculpture come together bit by bit, even if it is quite lengthly!
Purging the canisters
Purging the canisters
Purging the canisters
Bending pipes
Welding Experiments
Welding Experiments
Welding Experiments
The thread I used to connect the canister to the pipe.
Alicja Kwade is a Polish-German contemporary artist whose sculpture and installation based works contemplate the nature off time, space, science and philosophy. Sometimes video photography is used to enhance her work, which also focuses on our perception of time and space. Her works include objects from her everyday life, repetition, mirroring. Her objects sometimes appear anthropomorphic.
I like the use of metal to space out objects in works such as Paraparticular (2019) and Ambo (2018). Perhaps I could also look into doing so and book a space in the metal workshop to explore using man made and manipulated metal rods to space out my gas canisters.
I have a slot tomorrow morning so will explore methods of display and material use then!
Today I tried out writing words onto the canisters. I like the hap hazard way in which the letters have been scratched on, as if the writer was in a panic at the time of writing.
I have been observing the precautions which are being in Edinburgh to help combat the coronavirus and how regulations have been enforced and followed. I was sad to see the queue into a nursery was marked out in such a way as to encourage the distancing of children from each other on their arrival to school.
It made me realise how children are growing up in such a different world; hostile, distant and forcefully structured and disheartened to think that they don’t have the freedom I had as a child their age, how clueless they must be- and yet how acceptant they have to be.
Perhaps I could incorporate more of a focus on distancing and alienation in my work- maybe literally showing two metre rules in my work by the spacing out of objects.
After researching the work of Fischli & Weiss, today I tried out different arrangements using the empty gas canisters. As there is limited access to the metal workshops, in the meantime I may use cable ties or ropes to attach them- however I need to explore further means of doing so.