Glass Puddles AKA Cake Plates

We are almost done with the glass cake plates. Since the last visit to the glass studio, I decided to go with the clear molten pours because they replicate water best. They have many imperfections (size, amount of bubbles, etc.) just like the cakes. Seven of the nine are complete. I will go back later this week to make the final one with the "shield" constructed yesterday. Brent requested photographs to be taken of this event for the glass website and Elise kindly was up for the task. All these images were taken by Elise Rorick. THANK YOU!


Brent and JR figuring out the diameters of the plates before the pouring begins.


Organization (no surprise there) and ordering from largest to smallest.


... and so we begin.


Pressing out the bubbles and pushing the glass outward to make a larger plate.


It starts to smell like S'mores right about now.


Using the torch to get the edges right.


Hannah was recruited to push the plates onto the plywood.


I became an expert kiln door opener.


We weren't getting large enough diameters of plates so Ben, the grad student, stepped in to help pour as well. This photo shows the order of operation: Brent poured first with JR manning the kiln door followed by Ben with Hannah at the kiln door.



Ben's pour for the largest plate 18 inches in diameter (and I can't imagine how heavy it's going to be).


This one had the largest bubble which popped in an irregular shape. It might fit the "Slice" well but I'll find out later this week.


Of all the images Elise took, I love this one most. It captures the difficulty of this task. When I visited Niagara Falls this summer, many people talked about the lure of the river and their desire to jump. I did not have this experience AT ALL but I will say that a desire quite similar to that was recognized today. I just want to touch that glass. Of course I wouldn't but the temptation was great.


Smile and Wave (spoofing the genre of images to be found on the school's website).

In the past 36 hours ...

.... all cakes were photographed in the studio (post below);

7 glass plates were made (photos above);

1 circular form to make the largest glass plate resembling a shield was constructed (to be finished later this week);



a mammoth trip to Lowe's took place (contemplating colors for fake cake frames - just kidding as they will be glossy white like frosting);



14 frames were built (to be spray painted tomorrow);



two coats of paint applied to the Project Room (third coat to take place in December).



It's 3:05 AM and I worked solidly for 14 hours today. Tired! Hannah is the best. I owe her dinner, drinks, and one more coat of paint on the project space for all her help making frames today.

Cat Lynch's Five Minute Drawing

(for her to turn into a performance once I finally return it two months later).

In late September (embarrassing to admit), Cat Lynch sent me the following instructions:



I began the task today at 10:12:03 AM and finished it at 10:17:12 AM. I spent the majority of that time running around trying to find my xylene marker. Incidentally, it's taken me twice as long to post this entry.



With this drawing, I'm revealing that I'm obsessively keeping my lists (and counting them - a little over one list a day). I also date the day they were "retired" on the back side (so it became imperative that I do the same to this one). The graph paper and instructions screamed numbers and that's the end product. More on the lists at another time. They continue to grow because of course, a copy of this drawing was included in the list pile. I'm looking forward to seeing what Cat does with it!

Studio Photographs of the Cakes

I have wanted to photograph the cakes (and their cuts and bruises) since the beginning of the semester. I desired an image of 9 in a cluster but then Serena, master photographer of all things 3-D, suggested some close-ups. I have never spent so much time moving a cake two inches to the left or four inches to the right but they look perfect. Thanks Serena!

c. 1978

It snowed/sleeted/hailed Friday (I stand corrected... Drew informed me that the correct terminology was graupel). Dreaming of swimming pools.... Since it is late fall, getting dark far too early with the time change, and bordering on winter, how about some black-and-white swimming pools? It helps imagining a combination of the previous IKB post with these images.


The only color photograph in the whole book (courtesy of Brent Cole = thank you!).




i seriously want this pool (except for the snakes undoubtedly basking in the sun on the boulders).


Nice burned in cloud of doom in the sky above.



Love how the diving board looks like a straw (and the "freeform" a bladder).


Just insert Yves Klein's Folding Screen seen in the previous post here.

A Little International Klein Blue to Start the Week

Thought I'd make this entry heavily blue since the next post will be overtly black and white (and you'll be wishing it was blue). Infinite thanks to Nick Jones for letting me borrow his Yves Klein catalog.



Yves Klein, Blue Terrestrial Globe, 1951



Yves Klein, Ex-voto Dedicated to Saint Rita of Cascia, 1961



Yves Klein, Folding Screen, 1957



Yves Klein, Assemblage of Used Paint Rollers, 1956-62



Yves Klein, Air Architecture, 1961

Brent Cole: Traveling Pool Salesman

Brent Cole, in his "Diversions" lecture showed us his collages that lead to his sculptures focusing on the fact that he was surrounded by water in Miami for the past several years. He reminded me that I need to see this movie which I will make an attempt to this weekend. In fact, this is the second time since Kalamazoo "The Swimmer" has come up in conversation so I look to forward to reporting back.

Tonight it's off to Indy for First Friday. Tomorrow the cake frames will begin. There is an interview appearing for RR2 soon (I'm excited about that because Travis asked some good questions!).

James is Coming!

James Luckett will arrive any moment. He's Ball State's visiting artist for the photo area. Today he will discuss his experiences making POD books and his series Suginami.



James Luckett, Somnambulist, 2008

FEATURING: JEFF NILAN, JACINDA RUSSELL, and NANCY DOUTHEY

"RR 2 Box 281 is a bi-monthly zine dedicated to photo-based contemporary art. Each of the six yearly issues will be focused on the work of two living artists working and living outside of traditional art centers. The title RR 2 Box 281 comes from the childhood address of the zine's editor Travis Shaffer. Travis and his wife/ co- editor, Angela, grew up in neighboring rural communities in southwestern Pennsylvania. Travis is currently an Instructor of Photography at the University of Kentucky and Angela teaches high-school art in the small town of Lancaster, KY. Through Digital and hard copy dissemination, RR2 seeks to increase the exposure of artists' working and living in the rural settings, thereby creating a dialog around relationships between contemporary art, regional identity and rurality.

Six times a year a new issue of RR 2 Box 281 will be released as both a free .pdf file (to be viewed online or downloaded via issuucom) and a hand bound hard copy zine (to be sent via standard post). The hard-copy zine will be 15$/ issue, or 60$ for a yearly subscription."

ZINE -- http://issuu.com/travisl.shaffer/docs/rr2_v1_is1

FACEBOOK -- http://www.facebook.com/pages/RR-2-Box-281/127947723918928

BLOG -- http:rrtwo.wordpress.com

MoMA's "New Photography 2010" Exhibition

It looks like MoMA's latest photography exhibition is right up my alley (in terms of work I like not necessarily work I do).



Elad Lassry, Bunnies, 2009



Elad Lassry, Pink Hat, 2010



Alex Prager, Maggie from Weekend, 2010



Amanda Ross-Ho, Expose for the Shadows, Develop for the Highlights (Perforated Sampler): White Light, Crewel Point, Triangle 208.33%, Glasses (His), Portrait (Hers)

Paul Shore & Nicole Root's Dessert Sculptures

...this time with the work of Paul Shore and Nicole Root. How could a blog expressing love of earthworks not depict these artists' replica of Walter De Maria's NY Earthroom as a brownie?



Another favorite is a pink wax stick a la Dan Flavin in a corner.



via Art 21 Blog. Check out how sugar wafers, gum, and graham crackers take the elevated view of Minimalist sculpture to another realm.

And even better: "And in a gut-busting version of the Robert Smithson documentary Spiral Jetty, Root imitates Smithson’s dreary monologue as the camera follows the path of a Rock Candy, Heath Bar, Jell-o and powdered sugar spiral."

The Cake Plates (some of them)

Top shelf: Angel Food cake plate which was supposed to be a chocolate and tobacco combination but turned out gray.

Middle Shelf: the shattered neutral gray Niagara Falls plate.

Bottom shelf: the Barton Springs plate (oh la la!)



The molten pour tests for the slice. One side is textured from the surface of the table and the top is smooth. They even have ripples like water.

I stole this yesterday...

Cake Plates: First Round in the New Glass Building

I spent the afternoon in the glass shop where it smelled like beeswax and a campfire (nice). Mike Hernandez and Brent Cole made the first few plates for the cakes. We began with a dark green for Barton Springs, we moved on to a chocolate brown for the angel food cake, a neutral gray for Niagara Falls (unfortunately that one shattered), and two clear pours with ripples for Little Great Lakes, and the Slice. The first plates for these cakes:



Adding the color (forgive my lack of terminology):



Oh yes... the glory hole:



I was enamored by the tools namely the stack of sometimes smoldering newspaper used like an oven mitt:



... finally the molten pour for the "slice":

"125 American Swimming Pools"

Chris Toalson sent me this link tonight and it goes along well with artists' new found interests in using google maps as inspiration. Here is Jenny Odell's 125 Swimming Pools from The Satellite Collection.



Also on her website: grain silos, water towers, boats, and 81 Square Miles of the Great Salt Lake.

Mark Dion & Dana Sherwood: The Confectionary Wonders of Buffalo

From the Press Release:

"A metaphorical exploration of the history of Buffalo, The Confectionary Wonders of Buffalo celebrates the city’s diverse architecture and local craftsmanship: an outdoor vitrine fabricated entirely in Western New York encloses a delectable arrangement of magnificent cakes designed and executed by neighborhood pastry shops and loosely inspired by past and present iconic Buffalo buildings. The cakes' ceremonial decadence and vibrant colors resemble the radiant edifices of the "Rainbow City" (as the Pan-American Exposition was affectionately termed), while the vitrine reinforces the idea of Buffalo as a timeless architectural museum. While steel and glass typically call to mind skyscrapers, real estate development, and the consequential demolition of antiquated architecture, in this case they form an elegant protective barrier from wildlife and the elements. Nevertheless, the inevitable rotting and molding of the pastries as they are exposed to Buffalo's famously harsh climate for the length of the exhibition is suggestive of urban decay. The work may therefore be read as a symbol of the city's burgeoning conservation movement, while at the same time affording the opportunity for new ecologies and growth."

Marni sent me this link in conjunction with the exhibition Beyond/In Western New York 2010: Alternating Currents. Incidentally, my new colleague, Victoria Bradbury also has an installation at the Albright-Knox Museum.

As of 25th September, Buffalo has had record warm September weather and the cakes already looked toppled. They will remain in the cases over the course of the next three months, melting into a sugary mess.