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.