A busy week, spent moving between different projects.
After discussion with Martin Smith I have decided to enter the RSA design directions international competition, in the Ceramic Futures section.
I would like to utilise what I learnt in Paris last week so set about designing a piece to be rapid prototyped. The piece will have a traditional appearance at first glance but on closer inspection it should be clear that it could not have been made by traditional techniques.
Next week is likely to be as busy, there’s the Work in Progress show starting on Thursday, which needs everyone’s help, a meeting with the French company upstairs in Rapidform on Wednesday and I had hoped to get another piece finished for the show!
This weekend I am giving a demonstration at York City Art Gallery. I’m taking part in one of their showcase features, where Paul Young and I have selected historical work from the collection to show alongside our work.
Tuesday 27 November 2007
16.11.07
On arrival at Euston this week I went straight to Waterloo, met Alastair from RapidformRCA and caught the Eurostar to Paris.
We had arranged to visit a French company specialising in postproduction techniques for rapid prototyped products.
Alastair had arranged to spend just one day in Paris, learning as much as possible about their services and finding out about licensed use of their products. I had arranged to stay for the rest of the week in order to do some practical work. The company is based in a technical college and we spent Wednesday in the classroom learning about the treatment of Z Corp pieces that allows them to be used as durable finished products. This includes ceramic and glass coatings, infiltration and curing that allow their use as moulds for glass blowing and casting, low temperature metal casting, thermoforming and rotation moulding. The ceramic coating also comes in another version that can be cast. It is incredibly versatile, can be coloured, is food safe, acid and alkali resistant, provides a gas barrier etc.
There seems that to be a vast number of potential applications, and the company are still only at an early stage in its development.
Thursday was spent in their lab, casting and spraying ceramic materials. It’s a straightforward procedure. I would like to have had some of my own designs to work with, but it was not possible this time. I used children’s plastic moulds of cherubs and numbers instead! Even so, I learnt the basic technique, which I can pass on to students at College.
During our trip the French train drivers were on strike, with the Metro drivers joining them on Wednesday. It made for a difficult taxi journey to Gard du Nord for Alastair in the evening, arriving just 10 minutes before his train left. Monsieur Sarcozy is in for a fight but I think there is no way a country can afford to pay workers to retire at 50. Though I hope he isn’t a French Mrs. Thatcher.
Friday morning was spent checking my notes and wrapping up my samples, followed by a slow drive with Gilles to the railway station. The Eurostar was smooth and quick, arriving back at the newly refurbished St.Pancras station in two and a quarter hours.
We had arranged to visit a French company specialising in postproduction techniques for rapid prototyped products.
Alastair had arranged to spend just one day in Paris, learning as much as possible about their services and finding out about licensed use of their products. I had arranged to stay for the rest of the week in order to do some practical work. The company is based in a technical college and we spent Wednesday in the classroom learning about the treatment of Z Corp pieces that allows them to be used as durable finished products. This includes ceramic and glass coatings, infiltration and curing that allow their use as moulds for glass blowing and casting, low temperature metal casting, thermoforming and rotation moulding. The ceramic coating also comes in another version that can be cast. It is incredibly versatile, can be coloured, is food safe, acid and alkali resistant, provides a gas barrier etc.
There seems that to be a vast number of potential applications, and the company are still only at an early stage in its development.
Thursday was spent in their lab, casting and spraying ceramic materials. It’s a straightforward procedure. I would like to have had some of my own designs to work with, but it was not possible this time. I used children’s plastic moulds of cherubs and numbers instead! Even so, I learnt the basic technique, which I can pass on to students at College.
During our trip the French train drivers were on strike, with the Metro drivers joining them on Wednesday. It made for a difficult taxi journey to Gard du Nord for Alastair in the evening, arriving just 10 minutes before his train left. Monsieur Sarcozy is in for a fight but I think there is no way a country can afford to pay workers to retire at 50. Though I hope he isn’t a French Mrs. Thatcher.
Friday morning was spent checking my notes and wrapping up my samples, followed by a slow drive with Gilles to the railway station. The Eurostar was smooth and quick, arriving back at the newly refurbished St.Pancras station in two and a quarter hours.
Saturday 10 November 2007
09.11.07
This week has passed in a flash, partly organising things for next week’s Paris trip to visit Axiatec, partly making some more test pieces and finishing off things from a fortnight ago.
To prepare for next week I spoke to Anthony, one of the College glass technicians about the principles of casting. Axiatec offer a service where glass moulds for casting and blowing into can be rapid prototyped. Anthony is intrigued about the material and whether cork or graphite surfaces are applied as in the conventional moulds. I hope to not only find out but also hope to be able to produce a mould to use at College.
Alastair from RapidformRCA talked me through the Z Corp machine, it’s relatively simple technology, certainly compared to the laser sintering machines. He is coming along on the trip to talk to Axiatec about licensing their technology for us at College. I’m sure he’ll be able to help with adapting designs for use with the Z Corp technology.
A light wire evaluation kit was waiting for me at College on Tuesday. I had ordered 6 different samples of light wire, different colours and grades to test in my pieces. As the name suggests it is a wire that glows along its full length, emitting a neon type glow. Until I see it in place I’m not sure if it will look a little gimmicky, so I designed a piece where the wire will be hidden at the edge of the internal base, hopefully emitting a coloured glow across the black metallic glaze.
I also made a couple of pieces that I could insert Perspex secret sign into to form an illuminated base. It’s a satin black material that turns clear when light is shone through. White light looks white, coloured light coloured. Again, I must justify its use in terms of the project but think it could have a place and later have a commercial application.
The Ceramics and Glass department had an outing to see the First Emperor exhibition at the British Museum. First there was a lecture describing his life and the way he unified China. We also heard details of how the exhibition had been arranged and designed to make use of the Reading Room in the Great Court without affecting its listed interior. My youngest daughter, Grace took advantage of a spare ticket, arriving just in time to see the exhibition. I think she enjoyed it but was slightly distracted by the thought of a trip to Claridges to see Elle McPherson launch her new lingerie collection! Quite a contrast, but that’s Grace.
Our research cluster seminar room meetings haven’t been very successful so far. This year the new students aren’t in as regularly as we were last year, Heike is in the US and Emmanuel has gone part time. Maybe we need a guest from outside the cluster to talk about their research. Or maybe we have to wait until one of the group has something specific to discuss.
To prepare for next week I spoke to Anthony, one of the College glass technicians about the principles of casting. Axiatec offer a service where glass moulds for casting and blowing into can be rapid prototyped. Anthony is intrigued about the material and whether cork or graphite surfaces are applied as in the conventional moulds. I hope to not only find out but also hope to be able to produce a mould to use at College.
Alastair from RapidformRCA talked me through the Z Corp machine, it’s relatively simple technology, certainly compared to the laser sintering machines. He is coming along on the trip to talk to Axiatec about licensing their technology for us at College. I’m sure he’ll be able to help with adapting designs for use with the Z Corp technology.
A light wire evaluation kit was waiting for me at College on Tuesday. I had ordered 6 different samples of light wire, different colours and grades to test in my pieces. As the name suggests it is a wire that glows along its full length, emitting a neon type glow. Until I see it in place I’m not sure if it will look a little gimmicky, so I designed a piece where the wire will be hidden at the edge of the internal base, hopefully emitting a coloured glow across the black metallic glaze.
I also made a couple of pieces that I could insert Perspex secret sign into to form an illuminated base. It’s a satin black material that turns clear when light is shone through. White light looks white, coloured light coloured. Again, I must justify its use in terms of the project but think it could have a place and later have a commercial application.
The Ceramics and Glass department had an outing to see the First Emperor exhibition at the British Museum. First there was a lecture describing his life and the way he unified China. We also heard details of how the exhibition had been arranged and designed to make use of the Reading Room in the Great Court without affecting its listed interior. My youngest daughter, Grace took advantage of a spare ticket, arriving just in time to see the exhibition. I think she enjoyed it but was slightly distracted by the thought of a trip to Claridges to see Elle McPherson launch her new lingerie collection! Quite a contrast, but that’s Grace.
Our research cluster seminar room meetings haven’t been very successful so far. This year the new students aren’t in as regularly as we were last year, Heike is in the US and Emmanuel has gone part time. Maybe we need a guest from outside the cluster to talk about their research. Or maybe we have to wait until one of the group has something specific to discuss.
02.11.07
When Tuesday morning arrived this week, I decided that my chesty cough was best dealt with at home. I wouldn’t be coughing and spluttering over the population of London and I could get on with some quiet making and writing.
My attempt to write the section on perception finally got underway, one of the interesting things being that each time I searched for relevant information, Richard Gregory’s name came up. He has written a book with E H Gombrich, which I must now revisit, and I believe Gombrich has written one on Art and perception.
In the workshop I made 4 pairs of the disc pieces during the course of the week, managing to apply the black underglaze and leaving them to dry slowly over the next week or so. I hope to be able to biscuit fire them next weekend, but as the heating will be off in the workshop that may not be possible for all of them. I hope to get them through in time for the College interim show at the end of November, but they will crack if I rush them.
On Thursday I made a very interesting visit to the Ideal Standard factory in Middlewich in Cheshire. Steve Hill-Cousins, one of the technical managers who was very generous with his time, showed me around the factory. The mixture of automation and craftsmanship was interesting. The sleek designs are produced from very complex moulds made by highly skilled workers. Ideas, like the use of magnets to hold the internal sections together may be new, but they are employing the same traditional techniques that have been used since the Industrial Revolution.
They use two kinds of slip- vitreous china and fine fireclay. Both are once fired to the same temperature, 1210°C. For me the fireclay has advantages over the china, it only has 5% shrinkage so glaze compatibility may be a problem, so it will need testing. I brought a small bucketful back with me and cast up one of my tealight holders in the afternoon. It was biscuit fired on Saturday and glazed with the metallic black glaze. The result looks successful, but as the glaze cooled it was ‘pinging’ a little, suggesting that it was crazing. Nothing is visible to the naked eye, but I’ll talk it through with Keith, the chief technician at College and maybe ask to discuss it with Nigel Woods, the glaze expert.
So considering I started the week feeling pretty grotty, it turned out to be highly productive. I missed the camaraderie of the other students, but it made me think that staying home is an option if I want a concentrated period without disturbance. It is probably more useful for making than writing, as I would need to ensure that I had all the reference material to hand for writing, but the library at Lancaster University may be accessible to me.
My attempt to write the section on perception finally got underway, one of the interesting things being that each time I searched for relevant information, Richard Gregory’s name came up. He has written a book with E H Gombrich, which I must now revisit, and I believe Gombrich has written one on Art and perception.
In the workshop I made 4 pairs of the disc pieces during the course of the week, managing to apply the black underglaze and leaving them to dry slowly over the next week or so. I hope to be able to biscuit fire them next weekend, but as the heating will be off in the workshop that may not be possible for all of them. I hope to get them through in time for the College interim show at the end of November, but they will crack if I rush them.
On Thursday I made a very interesting visit to the Ideal Standard factory in Middlewich in Cheshire. Steve Hill-Cousins, one of the technical managers who was very generous with his time, showed me around the factory. The mixture of automation and craftsmanship was interesting. The sleek designs are produced from very complex moulds made by highly skilled workers. Ideas, like the use of magnets to hold the internal sections together may be new, but they are employing the same traditional techniques that have been used since the Industrial Revolution.
They use two kinds of slip- vitreous china and fine fireclay. Both are once fired to the same temperature, 1210°C. For me the fireclay has advantages over the china, it only has 5% shrinkage so glaze compatibility may be a problem, so it will need testing. I brought a small bucketful back with me and cast up one of my tealight holders in the afternoon. It was biscuit fired on Saturday and glazed with the metallic black glaze. The result looks successful, but as the glaze cooled it was ‘pinging’ a little, suggesting that it was crazing. Nothing is visible to the naked eye, but I’ll talk it through with Keith, the chief technician at College and maybe ask to discuss it with Nigel Woods, the glaze expert.
So considering I started the week feeling pretty grotty, it turned out to be highly productive. I missed the camaraderie of the other students, but it made me think that staying home is an option if I want a concentrated period without disturbance. It is probably more useful for making than writing, as I would need to ensure that I had all the reference material to hand for writing, but the library at Lancaster University may be accessible to me.
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