Jaydn Alexander- Casting Project

Well my casting project was quite the journey. I first wanted to cast "sinful" indulgences such as beer bottles, bongs, chew, etc. in candy and other edible sweets. However, when I began the casting process the sugar didn't set within the latex mold like I wanted. The solidity was inconsistent and where the sugar mold came in contact with the latex became gooey and didn't retain the shape and detail that was indicative of what the object was.

Next I tried using plaster to create the illusion of bubble gum, but it just ended up looking more like Pepto Bismol than anything remotely edible or appealing. So I decided to go with it and cast all the "sinful" objects to look like Pepto Bismol. I then chose to display the objects with a toilet seat pedestal, but during critique we discussed that the toilet seat was too obvious of an association and deterred from the audience making their own conclusions of what the work was about, which is more interesting. During critique my classmates also mentioned that the appearance of the objects reminded them of sweet tarts or chalky conversation hearts that come around during Valentine's day. So once again, I decided to go with it.

I again used plaster and added small amounts of acrylic paint to create the colorful, chalky appearance of sweet tarts. The shape of the Grizzly chew can has the same simple shape as sweet tarts which was really helpful in drawing the associations I want the viewer to create. The associations the class drew were pleasing because it went along with my original concept of the appeal of "sinful" products being similar to those of candy. I wanted to play with the idea of combining sweet tarts and the markets candy companies target in general, the idea of tobacco products and the markets tobacco companies target.

Here is another photograph showing the detail of the chew container lid. The roughness of the shapes appeals to the appearance of sweet tarts, where the logo on the lid keeps the viewer from seeing the objects solely as candy. However, depending on what angle the objects are seen, they can be read completely as candy, as seen in the first picture above. Which provides an initial feeling of joy or nostalgia, confronted later by a question of corruption upon realization of what the objects truly after discovering the Grizzly logo.

The photographs above play with the true scale as they appear to be smaller than they really are, which is another characteristic that hinders/helps with the overall message and unfolding experience the viewer has.

Lindsey Bauer-Casting Project

I chose to cast a minion...well, a bunch of minions (thirty-five) out of plaster. I chose to make them out of plaster, because I thought it was the best material to use for the minions, with how much time was given and needed. But due to the lack of time to make multiple minions; for the last eight minions that were casted, they still had quite a bit of moisture in them, so I was unable to do much with them and that is why only twenty-seven minions were displayed. 

Painting was kind of a pain and time consuming as well. I chose to do some of the minions's pants different colors from the original blue ones, because I thought it would be fun to show more than one color, and in the movies ('Despicable Me' and 'Despicable Me 2'), each minion seems to have their own personality and a different character about them that separates them from the rest, but still look similar. In my case, I only had one minion mold, and because they weren't all different, I showed how they were different by painting some of their pants different colors. Even though making thirty-five minions out of plaster was very time consuming, I actually kind of enjoyed this project overall.

Ayla Hohle - Casting Project

Yummy Yummy Corn! Or not... Corn is edible but not this corn which is made of wax. I chose to display the corn in a basket and in multiples because it is more realistic, someone just went and picked out this corn. And you cant just eat one cob. Husk leaves still cling to the freshly chucked corn. These leaves are also made from wax. They were made by pouring wax over a real leaf giving it the texture of an actual leaf. The basket started on the pedestal but was moved to the ground giving it a look as if someone set it down and forgot it. Complications of this cast was mainly in the leaves and peeling them from the real leaves at the right time, couldn't be too liquid or to solid or it would tear or break.

Bright colors! These mushrooms were made from a single ceramic mushroom made for decoration. Now they are made from crayon so they are a fun tool to draw with. It is a take on those shaped erasers, of animals, food, sports, that you can actually use. There are multiple mushrooms made because there is never just one crayon in a crayon box so why would there be just one crayon mushroom? Complications of this cast was timing of when to take it out of the mold, if it was to wet it would break. When it was completely solid it needed to be forcefully torn out. When I finished making the mushrooms my mold was basically destroyed.

Casting Project - Christina Christianson

Mirror casted in wax - Christina Christianson

Mirror casted in wax - Christina Christianson

 

LLYM - Christianson

This project had people analyze themselves as well as the layers that they present to the pulbic down to the idenity they keep to themselves. The group was assigned to look at in in reference of a russian nesting doll and then place or draw the layers.

Kat-Plaster Project "Light on the Weight"

I chose to cast a ten pound hand weight which after cast became one pound, eight point three ounces: a reevaluation and allusion of the meaning of weight. The weight was a bit difficult to cast due to my lack of previous experience with casting. I learned a lot about plaster and its drying properties, the quickness of its drying once it decides to set.
 I painted the weights with a "heavy color", the red making it appear even heavier and stacked the two weights as you frequently see them placed in the gym in the midst of a workout by a particular person. The stacking usually represents "these are being used" and cannot be pilfered for another's workout.

Andrew Domeier's casting project

For my project I decided to make a latex mould of ramen noodles. originally I had wanted to cast this object in salt, but due to complications with casting material had to switch to white wax. Even though I couldn't get the salt to work, I think that the white wax has the appearance of a block of salt.

I had come up with the idea to cast this in salt whilst reading the nutrition facts on ramen noodles, and saw that there is a staggering 1660mg of sodium in one package. By casting my noodles in salt, or "faux-salt", I am commenting on the extreme sodium contained within these packages of noodles, that are eaten by a very large portion of people every day. This may also be related to other American food culture, where extremely unhealthy foods are made to be very cheap and widely available.

Alexis Walcome's Casting Project

I had chosen the Sharpener to comment on the idea of buying objects that are old, unusable and used as decorative objects. Many people do this when thrifting, like myself, who buys old cameras (in the hopes of them working) but they end up just looking pretty on a shelf.

Ironically, the sharpeners actually can be used still. It's almost as if they cannot run dull or be broken. Also, out of all things that are old and seem to be looked over, the sharpener is an object that is still recognized by many generations and still used in many schools and other institutions. 

By casting this object in wax (mainly out of connivance), I made this object into the decorative, unusable object like many objects of it's time and era. That is why I made it look exactly like the object casted (with few minor changes). 

New Item on the Market!

This is the new Cauliflowery Food Product. It is an all natural, environmentally aware, artisan crafted vegetable substrate replacement module.

"Vegetable Shapes are the healthiest shapes to eat, right after your basic Vitamin Shapes"

-Dr. Mineralische, Health Awareness Specialist

 You don't have to eat an entire Cauliflowery Food Product each day to meet your recommended Vegetable Shape dosage, but you just might want to.

-Luke Salisbury, developer

*Please take note that this item is not scheduled for mass production or distribution, and is not intended to treat, prevent, or cure being hungry. May cause vague feelings of unease.

*Cauliflowery Food Product Labs is a subsidiary of Delmonte Plastic Group and Sub-Septic Roach Inoculant Industries

Phil Geving's Plaster Casts

Initially I chose a scrub brush because I thought the texture of the sponge was interesting, and would be fun to cast.  While I was right, in the process of creating these castings, I also began thinking heavily about the purpose of these items, and the futility of cleaning.

While it is always good to not stink and have somewhere clean to eat, in the end all things fall victim to decay.  This futility is what I focused on for this installation, displaying a mess that needs cleaning, with tools that simply could not perform their intended function; a brush that couldn't have scrubbed anything clean, and a spray bottle that couldn't have sprayed the walls with cleaning fluid.

Jaydn Alexander- Write a letter to someone telling them what you have longed to say.

With my Learning to Love You More Assignment I wanted to create a type of inner reflection exercise. I personally struggle with speaking my mind and expressing my true self, and I have a strong sense that many people share that trait with me.

To encourage the task of self-expression, I had my classmates write a letter to someone telling them something they have longed to say but hadn't. Because I felt it was a personal experience I gave students the option of mailing/delivering the letter as some letters may be too difficult to send, but delivery was strongly encouraged. I'm hoping to eventually recieve reactions to the letters and or the process of writing/delivering the letters, which I predicted to be possibly one of the most rewarding aspects of the assignment, along with personal relief of freeing the weighty voices that some of us keep inside. However, it is best for us and the people around us to let it out and I hope this exercise reveals to people how easy and relieving it can be.

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October 11, 2013

My Dear Dean.

This might come as a big surprise but the reason I fell in love with you over twenty five years ago was not because of your rugged good looks or because you were in fact tall, dark and handsome.  That’s not the reason I fell so hard and have stayed in love with you all of these many years.

I fell and remain fallen in love with you for so many other reasons which are listed below in no particular order…

·         you get me and what is important to me:  my children, my grandchildren, love, kindness and caring and doing for others

·         you are unbelievably kind and crazy gentle with children and animals

·         you are kind to everyone

·         you believe in what I believe in for the environment, the animals of the world and understand global warming and carrying capacity

·         you understand that when the animals are gone; humans will quickly follow

·         you love and appreciate the beauty of this world… you love the spirituality of the Black Hills but also love and appreciate my favorite cities- Washington DC, San Francisco and New York, even though the crowds drive you crazy

·         you give people the benefit of the doubt until they prove otherwise

·         you are not selfish… you understand the concept of enough

·         although you can do the Minneapolis Institute of Art in 20 minutes you wander with me for as long as it takes me to enjoy the experience when we go there.

·         you are totally trustworthy and loyal to a fault

·         I only hint that I want something and you search until you find and present me with what I have mentioned

·         you totally appreciate what I do for you

·         you love my cooking or at least act like you do

·         you see my kindness, gentleness and inner beauty as a strength

·         our minds are in synch…

·         we both love sci fi, the history channel and National Geographic

·         you love and support my art

·         you support my shoe habit

·         you always apologize when you are wrong (a rare trait in a man) and know how to say thank you when I do something for you!

You only have a couple of lacks that make me kind of sad… You don’t drink coffee so we can’t sit on the deck in the morning with our hot mugs appreciating the sunrise.  And… you won’t drink wine so we can’t sit on the porch in the evening watching the sunset.

Love you,

Your other half

Alexis Walcome - Learning to Love You More Assignment

On a sheet of paper write down something silly and/or minor secret that you have never told anyone about yourself. 

Kat-LLM - Say Goodbye to your College Years After Graduation

Say Goodbye to your College Years After Graduation