Return from MASS MoCA

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I’ve recently returned from MASS MoCA’s huge survey of Canadian contemporary art. A brief description from the MASS MoCA web site:

 The largest survey of contemporary Canadian art ever produced outside Canada, Oh Canada features work by more than 60 artists who hail from every province and nearly every territory in the country, spanning multiple generations and working in all media. MASS MoCA’s curator Denise Markonish spent the last three years crisscrossing Canada to view hundreds of exhibitions in museums and galleries, visiting over 400 artists’ studios, and making connections with a full range of artists working in Canada today.

I was there to accompany certain pieces of my work that been invited to be on display as part of the one-year show.

I’ll post some pictures of the event in the near future, and in the mean time I’ll post this photo of work by another artist in the show (Kim Adams, Dragon Wagon):

Kim Adams, Dragon Wagon (2005) mixed media sculpture.

First pour

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This is the first pour of the differential from the 12 bolt chevy.  On the “size scale”  this one is probably 6 out of 10 and is still a lot of work.  when finished I think that it will be about an eight piece mold.  You can see the blue foam sticking out of the top of the mold, i do that to create some voids in the plaster and to help keep the weight down.  Once the plaster has cures I’ll pull it out.

Brake Drum

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Here is the brake drum from the axle.  This is the first step in making the plaster mold, I have partitioned of two portions of it and will pour those parts first.  You can see the black plasticine that I use to seal the edges, some people  use clay but I prefer the plasticine.  I found that clay does not stick to the metal as well as the plasticine, especially when a reales agent has been applied.  The clay also caused some problems on the larger objects.  Because the prep time for the larger objects can take a long time I found that the clay was drying out,  shrinking and letting go of the object.  Even though the plasticine is quite a bit more expensive it saves a lot of time.

12 bolt Chevy

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I guess this is the start. Richard told me that I needed to start doing more things on my web site.  I have been able to get back into the studio after some time off.  The first project that I am staring with is  a 12 bolt chevy axle, here I am cutting off unnecessary parts.  Lucky  for me I will never have to put it back together.  There is a reason that I am an artist and not a mechanic.

Big Block Ford

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Here is the next engine in line for casting. I’m not sure what it is, it came from an old ford grain truck. I might be able to find a serial number once it’s cleaned up.

The White Truck

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This is the grain truck that the above engine came from. I don’t know what year it is but I do know that I hated driving it. It seemed to have a mind of its own veering left or right without warning. Very scary at highway speeds when full of grain. So when it was retired I was offered the engine, while I was pulling the engine I kinda felt like I was stealing it’s soul.