Heres a quick sketch to show a cross section of the double glazing units . A small hole is drilled in the side and then sand carefully packed in the space so that all the grains can be seen against the glass. The effect is really beautiful .
This time I’m going to go and collect the sand in London from the River Thames banks. This is a really incredible place. If you can take time to really consider and look at sand, you will be able to make out all the individual grains.
I like to think of the Thames’ sand as history in a granular form. The grains are not just naturally occurring parts from the river bed , but an infinite number of parts ground up and carried in its flow, from the city it passes through. I love the idea that the sand is almost like a finger print of London and the tiny grains can reveal so much about Londons past.
There may be bits of housing brick, metal, roof tiles, glass, ceramic, bone , plastic… so many things worn down by the water in to the tiny particles that make up sand.
The idea idea behind my sculpture is to allow the viewer to see the piece in many different scales, from the whole finished piece , to then drawing their attention to the individual grains of sand that fill it.
Again a huge thank you to glass build for providing the 10 specially made triangular double glazing units I will use in my piece which are now in a very safe place in the studio.
The glass used in the double glazing units is 4mm thick, and there is a 10mm spacer between the 2 sheets of glass that make up each unit. This means that the over all depth of each triangle is about 19mm once the tape and mastic has been included to hold them together.
The angle bar used on the frame wass 20 x 2o mm so the fit of the glass units is flush in to the angle bar! ..diagrams and images to follow later this week if that was a bit confusing…images are so much easier.
Here are a couple of sneaky shots of the frame work and its finish. It was powder coated in a medium gloss black which is tough and durable. Next stop… the glass!
I have dropped my sculpture off at the sand blasting and powder coating place… really interesting day learning how it works …and meeting the really eccentric guy who runs the place! amazing!
No …i haven’t finished!… but I’m starting to think about the different finishes I could put on the steel frame. These images show where the welds have been cleaned, slight surface rusting that has occurred and also the mill scale that occurs on steel.
I was considering painting the frame, but the rust must be removed first. However painting can be messy and easily chipped or scratched.
I have decided that the piece will be shot blasted and then powder coated matt black. Shot blasting will totally remove all the rust by firing sand at it at a high velocity. The powder coat is then applied in a dry powder form and then the whole piece will be baked in an oven to cure. This creates an extremely hard and even surface ideal for outdoors.
