In our recent class with Estela we were asked to bring along some material, and plenty of it. I chose a collection of old steel signs given to me by my grandparents. They used to fabricate, hand print and sell these signs in their hardware store, Peoples Hardware in Melbourne, which closed down decades ago. I have used these signs before in object making, but the focus was usually abstracting and obscuring the message on the sign. I looked forward to playing with Andy thinking about the material in a different way.
Original steel sign: “L” learners plate. Mark-Glo was my grandparent’s sign making company (“Mark” for my father and “Glo” for Gloria my grandmother).
We began by separating our individual material into 10 segments (roughly the same size) to experiment with. In the experiments we undertook a different action to each piece of material. By action I mean the definition of “exerting power or force”. In class it meant things like cut, bend, hammer, fold and file.
In class steel sign experiments.
Together we examined the results for each of our experiments. It was wonderful to see all the different actions taken on vastly different materials. We had a focus on the surface and the incidental forms produced by the action. We were hunting for surprising and new outcomes, properties and textures. For example, we manipulated all of our materials in very different ways. Even if using a similar action, such as “heat”. Some folks burnt their materials while others melted and fused with a heat gun. From this class we then took the experiments as a starting point to build on. We each continued the experiments over two weeks between classes.
Before the experimenting continued I took a moment to re photograph the experiments that I created in class. This time I used my digital SLR and got up as close to the surface as possible. I was inspired by Estela’s action of zooming right down into the detail of the images as we were in the class discussions about the experiments. There were some interesting results when re-examining the surface through this lens.
Detail image of the filed surface.
Detail image of the hammered surface.
My personal focus on the experiments was to play with the surface of the material. The coloured paint, undercoat and metal created layers that could be exposed. I used the idea that the paint was a skin on the hard structure of the metal beneath. My focus was how I could manipulate and play with those layers in the experiments I could undertake.
It was a delight to play unencumbered with the material. I felt a lot more freedom than I normally would when using this particular material. I usually would be doing all I could to protect the paint and message. Here, I was able to see what could be done to the painted surface. Due to the nature of the material, it was designed to be hardy and last in all types of weather. I used quite forceful methods and actions in order to wield a result. Some of the actions included flame torch, angle grinder, disc sander, coarse files, salt and vinegar bath, as well as a citric acid bath.
Steel sign experiments continued.
Many of the experiments could be grouped together. One experiment would inform the next. Then others I would move to something completely different. With the requested number of experiments it promoted the extension of my ideas. When 10-20 experiments were needed I had to move past the obvious experiments and actions into something more interesting, such as using the pavement outside my studio to do mark making on the surface of the material.
Detail image of flat headed hammering on the steel sign surface.
When documenting the results of my actions, again I played with the way I photographed the surface. I came as close as possible to the material, played with the angle of the camera and the light that was on the material. I explored the micro details of the experiments. With the close inspection and observation the surfaces transformed into terrains and landscapes. The material and paint turned into craters, valleys and mountains through the camera lens. I began to think about the idea that these micro details transformed into the macro formations.
One of the outcomes from the experiments was a change my thinking towards the material surface. My tendency would normally to lean toward a uniform unblemished surface in my object making. Whereas here, there had been a focus on the opposite. There is a whole new layer of expression embedded into the material surface.