Part of MFA Design Thesis Project
Chest armor dedicated to Vulcan.
To make a poetic connection between rockfall activity of Stromboli and the process of deforming with heat and forming with water, I deployed beeswax as the main material subject to a set of experiments involving formal manipulation. When a rock falls into water, it creates splash, forcing the body of water to fall into its surroundings as drops. I wanted to create a fictional assumption that the water splash in the Tyrrhenian Sea from the rockfall activities of the volcano (every 3 hours from February 14th to 21st) found its way into my wax molds. In the process of casting, melting wax conforms to water if present in the mold due to the surface tension and its insolubility in water. The higher rockfall activity the more water is spattered in the same mold, directly affecting the wax formations. Through this subtle narration, I aim at arguing that the generative collection of forms embody a sense of being directly touched and influenced by the volcanic activity (in specific, an increase of the explosive activity can produce an increase in rockfalls and can trigger a tsunami).
Initial concept exploration: Whittling with heat
“The word volcano comes from the island called Vulcano, off the south west coast of Italy. Because of frequent eruptions on that island, Romans considered it to be the forge of Vulcan, the god of fire and maker of weapons. The word has since come to mean any vent in the Earth’s crust through which magma reaches the surface.” ( Mountain of Fire - Robert W. Decker and Barbara B. Decker - p7)
To release the volatility of the wax as a material into a solid and inert object, (as it happens to volcanic rocks), I cast the wax formations in bronze in the process of sand casting.
Connecting the sand cast bronze pieces together, I created a chest armor as a spiritual and sacrificial gift back to Vulcan, the god of fire and the blacksmith of heroes and gods. The pattern resembles a figure, perhaps a godly reconstruction of the image of Vulcan. To make sense of patterns that do not convey meaning and to find familiar figures in unfamiliarity, is a distinct human desire (Pareidolia). This piece is entirely hand crafted using jewelry making tools and techniques in every step of the process (even the making of the connecting rings).
The visual language of these bronze formations, metaphorically refers to the landscape surrounding a volcano, the hands of god moving the plate tectonics away from or towards each other and the contrast between straight urban borders and curved land lines.
Unpolished collection of bronze cast pieces
©21st Century
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