Trip to Kinker - Gordon Watt

Today, I head to see Gordon Watt, to finalise some plans for the Leith Hall show. Gordon is worried that the idea to make a radiator, to supply warmed water to the roots of more "delicate" plants (more suited to warmer climes) will not work. I've encountered quite a few pessimistic stances to several of the ideas for the collaborative show (since semester one). I'd put it down to me not being able to communicate my ideas very well, a lack of confidence in the possibilities, as I don't describe the "realisation" to clearly....but, the more I think about it, the more I think that Gordon isn't too up for "being a technician". It's a fair stance to have, he does have creative needs, perhaps he doesn't know that quite as much as I see it? It's still great working with him, as we discuss possibilities, perhaps, again, it's my lack of understanding of the use of glass, what it can do, what it can't do...It seems that I come up with sugestions that don't quite cut the mustard in glassworld. "how about this?" ("too acute an angle"), "how about that" ("take too long to make") etc... still, after bashing around some more thoughts, we do work out some experiments that will satisfy us both.

We ARE going to try and make a radiator (far stripped down from the originlal glass version of an old cast iron radiator I'd proposed), I understand the time / cost / difficulty factors, but I do still feel dissapointed that this idea won't be realised for the Leith Hall show. (perhaps Gordon and I could put in the idea for competitions / funding?...that would be exciting!). We aim to test several approaches to making the releif in the glass, Gordon routs out varying widths of hole in 3 slabs of plywood. The Idea is that the track for the water to flow through will first be routed out of play, then plaster is poured into the "mold", once dry, an impression of the plaster is copied with wax (for further reproductions of moulds) and then Glass can be "slumped" over the plaster, the glass is then "tacked" (slow melting of two bits of glass to each other) to a flat piece of glass, creating a sandwich, with a (hopefully) clear path for water to trickle through. (simple!). So, we've created three tests, and left the plaster to dry. Gordon and I head to Kinkardine O'neill for a snadwich (I have no money, Gordon kindly buys me one) and we eat it on the banks fo the Dee, watching salmon jump and fishermen get angry.

When we head back, the plaster is still wet (obviously!). So I head back. First, we devise a plan of what we'll be doing over the next few days / weeks. I need to "design" some flow patterns for the water to run through, I need to look at making some screen printed leaves / trees (for back up work, to accompany Gordon's "back up work")...

As a "simple" and eye catching work, I'd thought of making sandwiched glass, with screenprinted chrry blossom trees. 3 layers of glass, one with a pink blossom screen printed, the next with a black / dark brown tree, and the third, an "overprint" of white blossom. I can imagine this will look nice, people will Oo- and Ah...but it wouldn't cut the mustard in the scrutiny of the MfA. (theory, Concept, validity...nope, it's "just craft"....ooh, what a critiscism!). It'd be nice if these "follies" sell!

anyway...I'll upload some photos of the morning...and some drawings. watch this space.

Listening to - tom waits : blood money - Tomahawk : epy