Pietrasanta Bronze Casting Residency 2010

Little things, big things and problems of unknown size…

I have been working on my Enzyme project – and am getting quite excited about it. However, I’m also aware that I don’t want it to take over totally so I leave room for other ideas and experimentation with all the bronze casting techniques. With a view to this, I want to limit the size of the enzyme sculpture – but this is a little bit more complicated as I can’t go too small on the figures or they won’t be castable. I think the limit is 3mm for the bronze to flow properly.

So – I did some research and calculations. A carbon-carbon bond is between 120 – 154 picometers (pm). Picometers are what they use to measure atomic dimensions.

1 picometer is 1/1,000,000,000,000 m (pretty small!)

Most small molecules are measured in Ångströms (Å) which is 100 times bigger than a picometer, for e.g. Water is 3Å.
Proteins and Enzymes are measured in nanometers (nm), which is ten times bigger than an Ångström. So:

1Å = 100pm
1nm = 10Å = 1000pm

A typical globular protein is about 4nm. So, if I made my carbon-carbon bond about 12 cm long (roughly the scale used in my diamond inspired sculpture), then my total sculpture would be 4 meters – which would be quite an undertaking! That is assuming I can find a suitable enzyme that is only 4nm – some might be even bigger than this.

So it I want to reduce the scale of the total sculpture, I could try reducing the scale of my carbon-carbon bond, aka my figure-figure distance. The man in the middle of my tetrahedron has arms & legs of 3.5cm from the centre of the figure. This is probably the limit of how small I can go, as the wrists on this are about 2 x 3mm, and the tips of the fingers are 1mm. I will probably have to wait till I’m at the foundry to find out if I can get away with this. Even so, this would give me a 7cm carbon-carbon bond length, thus a 4nm protein would be about a 2m sculpture – still quite big! Hmm, worrying…

The Interview part 2: Project for Pietrasanta (cont. from previous post)

I then presented my proposed project: to represent an Enzyme

This is an idea for a work I’ve recently had. Enzymes are proteins that are the ‘do-ers’ in all living things, they make all reactions happen – from the breakdown of food, to muscle movements, to reproduction. They are so elegant, have simple forms which includes an active site. This is like a lock, that the ‘key’ (the substrate – i.e. the things that gets changed by the enzyme) slots into like a key fitting in a lock. They are also so varied in shape and size. I showed them an image of an enzyme.

The work has 2 elements which allow me to explore the 2 techniques:

• Molecular construction – i.e. the chemical that fits in the enzyme, to be represented as small figures, like the carbon dioxide except more extensive – to be modelled in wax – that will help me to learn constructed bronze

• Main shape – a large abstract-like form (except it is actually the exact shape of a real enzyme), to be modelled in plaster – that will allow experimentation in texture and patination

Getting the most out of the residency
I once overheard Alexa Holt (of Cove Park) say that a particular artist “knew how to approach a residency” so it had been very successful. I never got to ask her what she meant… How do you approach a residency?

My plan: clear structure, with space for reflection and creativity

Capturing knowledge: how to record? Notebooks + this blog

Getting most out of Pietrasanta – already speak Italian, revise before arriving.

Getting most out of extra time (away from family responsibilities and building career activities) – Ideas diary (daily personal diary, Mike Tyson-esque drawings/sketches of ideas for new work)

Conclusion
I know a lot of people (including my family and at the organisations involved) will be working hard to allow me this opportunity, so I’m prepared to work very hard to make the most of it.

I had presented to a panel of 6 people. They then asked me quite a few questions but were very nice and interested throughout, and they also told me a bit more about what I might expect in Pietrasanta.

I then packed up my maquettes and headed home on a bit of a high after the adrenaline of it. I felt I had done myself justice and it would all be up to who else was up for it. But then I started worrying that I would be up against more experience and talented sculptors, and it all seemed a bit unreal, even more so after I got the call the next day saying I’d got it.

I have since been working on the preparatory work for the project, and I’m off to Oxford next week to look at Enzymes! More of this in another post.

The interview: my proposal for Pietrasanta

It now seems a while ago, but on the 19th October I was invited for an interview at the RBS headquarters on the Old Brompton Road. I had been told that I was to give a 10 – 15 minute presentation on “what I hoped to achieve if I was awarded the residency”, and that I could bring maquettes, drawings and handouts if I wanted to. This would be followed by questions.

Slightly nervous about this, I decided to prepare well and try to sound as confident as I could. I didn’t want to read out a prepared text as I always think that ends up being quite lifeless, but I as I felt it wasn’t actually that long to get across all I wanted to, I decided to have a very clear structure and I mapped out a ‘mind map’ of what I was to say (image attached). I practiced once to check on timing, but again didn’t want to repeat it too much, as I didn’t want to loose the genuine enthusiasm of saying it from the heart.

After a brief intro thanking them for the opportunity and giving a brief background to myself and practice, I did the old essay technique of briefly telling them what I was going to talk to them about: the 2 techniques I wanted to learn, the project I had planned, and my strategies of getting the most out of the opportunity.

2 techniques I want to explore

1. Combining cast bronze and constructed bronze elements
This relates to work I have been doing where I’ve used cast bioresin figures and constructed geometric forms made of copper and brass rods, as well as other works using human figures to represent molecular structures. I showed my man inscribed in a tetrahedron, and my molecules: carbon-carbon – with two men connected together, and carbon dioxide – a man (the carbon) connected/held by two women (the oxygens). They were interested in the materials and techniques I’d used, and I told them of how I would love to create a huge DNA helix made up of people representing the atoms all in their correct geometries.

2. Surface texture and colour – perceptions of form
I showed them an image of a new work – Nature/Network I had recently completed where I’d experimented with texture in the plaster and colouring this using tempera paint. I also showed them a sample work so they could see the colours and textures close up. I think too often with cast materials there is such a temporal separation between the modelling material and the finished form. I wanted to experiment with different textures and how this would effect the patinations possible, and how the patination would change how we perceive the form.

(there is a limit on word count per post – so I will continue this in a new post)