A couple of posts back I documented a sculpture Niall Magee and myself made in Castlecomer, County Kilkenny. We made it in May of 2010 and at the end of that post I said in my best Terminator voice 'I'll be back' Well, I'm back...This time in the company of Alan Magee and we were there to make another small sculpture with a free theme in August of that same year.
The previous sculpture had survived pretty well through the summer with only some mild damage around the base from animals walking through. This really proved to me that we had discovered the best sand in Ireland to carve and we would for future projects ask Earl (The owner of the quarry) to deliver it to us when possible. Knowing the sand you have before you carve can take away alot of uncertainty.
This time, Alan and I decided we would push the sand a little further to see what it could really do when it came to structure. We knew it was good for detail but for strength the jury was still out. So, we wanted to design something to test how far it could be undercut and cut through. These are technical terms in the biz for bit's hanging out and holes.
It was nice also to go a bit more experimental with the design and just create some interesting forms with no obvious meaning or concept. just like a big sand doodle.
What does it all mean?
I won't explain what it was, your interpretation is as good as mine. Let's say it was 'A holey globe in a globe holder with another holey globe screwed on top'. Nice title?
Again I was impressed with the fineness of the sand and how silky smooth it was to carve. The strength was also great and to be honest looking at the images now I think we could have pushed it further, with more air coming through and we also could have undercut the globe completely.
It was a fun piece to make and a nice contrast to the miner and dinosaur we had made before.
Another shyster
As a little side note, If you have read my previous post you may remember that I talked about a gallery owner that was the one who actually commissioned us to do the work in Castlecomer. I had said that he was a nasty piece of work and would never make my Chirstmas card list. Even though we fulfilled our side of the bargain he never paid us in full for the job. Earl, the owner of the location had paid him but he never passed the money on. We chased him for a year or two then gave up. I won't name him here but if you are an artist and hear from the Carysfort gallery in Blackrock, steer clear.
Hasta la vista.... Baby
Ps
Thanks for reading. I use PeakD to document my work as an ephemeral Sculptor of sand, snow and ice, amongst other things. This will hopefully give it a new life on the Hive Blockchain. Below you will find some of my recent posts.
The Wizard of Oz- sand sculpture
Surfer - sand raking
My introduction to sand raking - Foot prints - sand raking
I hope you'll join me again soon
@ammonite
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