In this assignment, you will do a group of cast sculptures inspired by Rachel Whiteread. Your sculptures will be casts of the negative space inside or around a modified found object. We will be using cement for the casting.

The process of casting both replicates and obliterates the original object (it can literally obliterate it in certain types of casting!) When one sees a cast object, a host of ambiguities arises. How is it the same? How is it different? Is this a sculpture of the object, or a direct impression? A new thing or a relic? Fossil or fake?

As the artist, this give you a lot of possibilities to play with! You will be creating a new, unique mold-form from common found objects. In essence, you will use these objects to create a dynamic negative space or interior volume from which your positive form will emerge. You will combine at least 2 negative spaces together and cast one object from that space. You can do this by cutting your objects apart and reassembling them in an interesting way. The in-class demo will cover this.

 

Read this article and watch this video before starting this assignment:

The_Inbetweenness_of_Casting_-Excerpt.pdf

 

 

In order to get started with this assignment, you need to answer 2 questions, one practical and one conceptual:

 

What am I casting? Does it have forms that lend itself to this process? Is it too full of small detail and delicate forms? Is it so minimal that the viewer won’t be able to tell what it is?

Why am I casting this? Does this object have a significance that will come through the casting process? This process confers significance, does this object merit this?

 

Tips:

To make the cast work, you will need to make a contiguous inner volume. There can’t be a pinched connection between parts. Also, you can’t have protrusions that are too delicate.

 

For this project, you will need:

 

Several found objects- plastic, wood, glass, metal. Not too big, not too small- between 4” and 12″

A small bucket

Cleaning or dishwashing gloves

Hot glue and duct tape

A trash bag and cardboard box.

 

Good places to look for found objects:

Thrift stores

Goodwill Fairfax

9960 Main St, Fairfax, VA 22031

Unique

2956 Gallows Rd, Falls Church, VA 22042

Home Depot/ Lowe’s

Your parents basement/attic/garage

Dollar store