Cold Lay Tarmac Experimentation- SLAB

I began my first experiment trying to lay to sticky granules of tarmac over this cling filmed structure. I quickly learned that my intentions of making this material do things other than being stamped flat into the ground was going to be a lot harder to achieve. The cling film kept moving everywhere, the bits dont stick together very well at first as it is my warm hands that makes it soft and crumbly- let alone trying to make it go vertically up a surface. Luckily my technician was able to substitute this poorly made structure for a spare square silicone mould that I could use for this experimental piece.

In these images you can see that it was necessary for me to use the industrial presser to try and get the material to stay and bind together quicker. Luckily because the mould is silicone I was able to bend one of the corners to see if it would set that way- producing a curled (or drooping, depending on how its displayed) paving slab.

Unfortunatley over quite some time, the paving slab has not yet decided to set and am almost certain it would crumble apart once removed from the slab.

CONCRETE/CEMENT VS TARMAC

As initial material to start experimenting with I am faced with weighing up the pros/cons of either concrete and tarmac as to which one is a) going to be more cost effective b) be easily or at least possible to manipulate c) is most identifiable with being cold or bleak an relating to urban landscapes.

Concrete

From what ive learnt, cement needs to be mixed with sand to be completely strong for large scale works. It will be like a sloppy paste at first and then sets- suggesting I would need to make some kind of mould for it to pour into, especially if i want it to do things that require 'defying gravity'. However it is cheaper than the cold lay tarmac and the technicians are experienced in this material yet know nothing about cold lay tarmac. I will still need to source it myself- it is recommended that I dont use sand because of the appearance yet I run the risk of it not being strong enough. Another downfall is that I have seen concrete/cement used before yet not aware of any artists using tarmac.

Tarmac

Before coming to the conclusion about what tarmac to use I had to do a lot of research into how it could be practically used in the 3D work shop as different substances have to be heated and/or may smell. This cold-lay asphalt is pressed and then using cold air and time sets hard, used to fill pot holes. The downside is I won't know until I experiment as to wether I will need a mould for this, how well it will 'defy gravity' or even how long it takes to set. However I am very drawn to the look of this material but again, no body knows how to use it and its quite expensive. Which all adds up if I decide to do a large scale work.

Regardless, the best art comes from not following the rules so Im going to buy some cold lay tarmac...

Statement of Intention- A New Direction

This chart shows me trying to map out my intentions with the work. It shows my decision to bring the material to the fore-front even more than before in the work, refining and stripping back unnecessary influence about the work to leave space to experiment more with minimalism and aesthetic experience. However although 'Rave' will no longer be the primary focus, I believe that the decisions to produce unsettling environments and urban referencing materials stems from my interest with this. This is obviously a reaction to the fact that I believe the 'rave' concept has been exhausted. I intend to research artists who:

-Produce dystopian, uncomfortable or unsettling environments (immersive)

-Work with minimalist sculpture

-Use industrial, urban related materials

-Use neon or green elements of colour in interesting ways

-Work with found objects

-Have anthropomorphic qualities about their work

I think that as a first step forward I should be very observing of environments around me in urban settings, maybe even use google maps street view, considering the kinds of materials I could use or find. There was suggestion to think of a particular place but i'm not too sure what I could work from with that.

Some materials that are of interest:

-Neon slime? Maybe I could make this? an interesting combination with harder more bleak or cold materials.

-Breezeblocks

-Tarmac

-Concrete

-Cement

-Objects: Shopping trolleys, shopping baskets, prams, lamp posts, bins.

A trip to wickes or Travis Perkins is in order!