Imagecast bronze process6/22/2023 Students visited the foundry in the Sculpture studio and were able to assist in various ways with the pour. Image: UCD faculty Michael Brohman (left) with kindergarten student (middle) and Highland Micro School faculty Susan Calkin (right). Image: The “ceramic shell” molds after the wax has been burnt out and they have been taken from the burnout kiln. The students were able to visit campus and witness this process firsthand. The ceramic shell molds molds are fired in a kiln to a temperature of 800 degrees and the wax is melted out of the molds leaving behind a void in which to pour the bronze. The waxes need to be dipped into this slurry a total of ten times, allowing each layer to dry before applying the next layer. It is composed of a slurry mixture of clay and silica sand. This mold material is called the “ceramic shell”. Image: Ceramic shell mold process.Ī new mold was made around each of the individual pieces and their sprue systems. Tubes of red sprue wax are connected to the feet to allow molten bronze to fill the piece as well as allowing any air to escape. Before casting, the wax feet needed to be sprued (plumbing system) to a cup to receive the molten bronze. Image: Wax feet with the “sprue” system.īronze casting is a multi step process. They then carved that word onto the bottom of their foot to be cast in bronze. Image: Wax feet from the students and teachers.Īt this point each student decided upon a word that best represented how they want to live their lives and what they want as a legacy. Hot wax was poured into each mold and allowed to cool, creating exact copies of the original feet. After the alginate molds were created the next step in the process was to get wax copies of each foot. They worked as teams to help each other make molds of their feet. The students assisted in all aspects of this project. Using a life casting material called alginate, molds were made of each child’s foot. (image credit: Ai Weiwei) After researching “Legacy” and what it meant to each individual the next step was to create life casts from the student’s feet. Each child chose a word that best represents how they would like to live and what “legacy” they wish to leave behind. The students’ feet are used as metaphors for the paths and journeys that they will take and the impacts that they create. It began with the students exploring what effects they leave behind in society by their actions or lack of action. This project is a collaboration with the faculty (Susan Calkin) and K-5 students at the Highlands Micro School.
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