A beginner’s guide to constructing the universe-The mathematical archetypes of nature, art and science, states: “In ancient Greece the advanced students ... who were engaged in deep studies of natural science and self-understanding where called mathematekoi, “those who studied all”. The word mathema signified “learning in general, to be aware, to awaken”.
If there is such a thing as mathematekoi ( a curious one) using clay as a medium...I am one.
I will start in 2012 with making of Gateway 21
....try,try again.... I am making couple of sculptures in the same mould as Icos and Orbis for Bondi Sculpture by the Sea indoor exhibition. I want one to be reminiscent of the Intuitive Sense of Connection, so I start by carving a triangle that I think will have desired effect (on the left):
The problem with this way of working is that I can't really tell what will it look like until the piece is assembled and taken out of the mould. So I make a couple of plaster moulds, press out 80 little triangles and assemble them together:
And here we are 3 days later:
I am not happy with the result. the corners of the triangles have pushed in, and I don't like the effect it is producing. I walk away with the hope that I will like it better tomorrow.... ....but nope, I still feel the same. So there is only one thing to do: start again. This time I have decided to make a different style mould. Previous one required me to cut the triangles and insert them into the mould (press mould). This time, I'll make a stamp mould:
the one on the left was first, on the right is the new one. Can you spot the difference?
On the second thought, I left too much plaster on the sides, so I trim it with the saw:
I press the stamp into the clay, and use a cardboard cut-out frame as a guide to cut the triangle shape. It is working much nicer than the first attempt.