I posted the images from last week’s kernel-making session at Eric’s studio days ago, but I hadn’t yet found time to write about the session, and I had better hop to it, as I’m probably going to be back in the saddle tomorrow spinning kernels and pouring resin. Last week was a big pour, with us running both the 12 kernel gimbal and the earlier 5 kernel gimbal at once. Special guest Homeira Goldstein and her pals from Arts Manhattan were in the house to make kernels on the 12 unit gimbal, while us working fools got to play around on the 5 kernel gimbal.
There was a lot of running around to keep them both running at once, but at the end of the day we only need to make about 100 more kernels to be finished, about 8-9 days of casting. Then everything needs to be cleaned and prepped and the supporting structure that will make all the kernels come together into an ear of corn needs to get built. I’ve asked Eric about that structure and he says with frightful confidence “I’ve got it all worked out in my head.” From anyone else but Eric, that would scare the crap out of me, but I’ve come to understand that the inside of Eric’s mind is as ordered as the spheres of the heavens. On to the pics. As usual, all Maize related pictures are available for your perusal in their Flickr set.
Above – Just some of the hundreds of kernels now wandering around Eric’s studio. If Eric’s studio wasn’t massive, nearly every horizontal surface would have a row of these stored on it.
Above – Chris Williamson turning the 5 kernel gimbal, with clear resin inside. This is the first gimbal that Eric built for the project and because of the way that it’s balanced, it doesn’t like to keep spinning when you apply force to it. The 12 kernel gimbal is actually much easier to turn and keep an eye on.
Above – Eric with Homeira Goldstein.
Above – Some of the kernels by the Arts Manhattan guests in rotation. Love those clear colours.
Above – Eric and his daughter Nicole.
Above – Eric pours birdseed into one of the Arts Manhattan kernels.
Above – clear pink resin pouring over the birdseed layer. When the resin is flowing like this, it’s all about keeping everything in rotation to get even coverage.
Above – The finished birdseed kernel.
Above – probably the best kernel made on Saturday, that black spot near the seam at bottom is a pebble that was dropped in. Up close it’s like magic.
Above – Mixing colours.
Above – So I made a bit of a mess of a kernel on Saturday. This kernel got alternately called the “blood clot”, “diseased liver” and a host of other disease related names. What you’re looking at there is clear resin infused with the tint Molten Orange Candy and Cress Gold powder. I let the resin set up after being catalyzed until it was kind of goopy, and then we poured it in. It quickly became a floppy, gummy mess that splattered across one side of the kernel and then set up there.
Above – At the end of the day, the completed “blood clot”. After the first gloopy layer, I poured in a pair of opaque pink resins, infusing the first pink layer with more cress gold. The whole thing is filled with air bubbles and odd bits, gold streaks and weird spots where the different colors interact. I was really happy. I also broke the nozzle taking it out of the mold.
Above – Closeup of the broken nozzle. The reason it broke is because the opaque resins don’t harden in the same way as the non-opaque resins. They’re kind of chalky and you can pick at them, as they never get as hard. The nozzle would probably have survived had I put a clear resin layer either at the end or between the two opaque pink coats. Regardless, all the pieces get their nozzles sawn off as part of the cleanup process, so this one was just getting a head start.
Technorati Tags: Eric Johnson, Homeira Goldstein, Chris Williamson, art, LA art, resin, polyester resin, kernels, corn, Maize, in the studio, artmaking, casting, sculpture,
Marshall
Wow. Thanks for your excellent chronicle of this brobdingnagian project; I can now point my parents towards pictures of what exactly it is I spend my saturdays doing.
I can’t believe that some of my first kernels are now three years old. What started as me and Eric just messing around with all the great stuff Jay from San Francisco sent him has mushroomed into what I hope has been a lot of fun for everyone who has come down to the studio to play.
Your pictures also serve to remind me that I need to lay off of the breakfast burritos at work.
I think everyone’s having a blast. It would take us a good decade to exhaust the multitude of creative options with the kernels. In a way, the whole project has a sketchbook feel to it, with all of the kernels kind of being a barrel of ideas and aesthetics.
Breakfast burritos are the food of the gods, don’t deny yourself a relationship with the higher power of your choosing through their gastronomic manifestations.
Interesting update on Eric’s progress with the corn project. Like the idea of a blood clot. Kick up the speed Eric only a few months to go; Do you need some hormone injections, I know a doctor.
LeRad
wow! I’m in love with this project! Your kernel colors are awfully inspiring!
I will have to introduce you to Jerry, lead chef on the Marco’s Catering truck at work. He does things with chorizo that defy simple description. Macaroni and Cheese wth chipotle? Transcendent.
LeRad: we could use your steady hand on the gimbal; Your ink-pen blue kernel came out (to my eye) precisely as requested.
OMG yesterday (6/21/08) was a loooong day…
Chris – after 6-21, I’m barely sitting down right now. I had to run right from the pour to serve dinner to a party, and yesterday I had an all day film shoot in a hot garage in Mount Washington. My ankle is killing me from all the standing – I feel like an old man.
I agree with you about the idea of this project as being a sketchbook. I know I’ve tried to push the materials, but after a point, my approaches grow stale, and a sort of same-ness sets in.
Having people come down who aren’t artists, or who have ideas that are unconstrained because they don’t know how the resin works have been great, because they’ll throw out an idea I would have never considered.
When someone decides what they want to do, my job is not to say “no”, my job is to say “why not?” and then figure out the best way to achieve their intended goal. As a result, it’s expanded my understanding of what is possible (as your infamous diseased kidney illustrates) and given me new avenues to explore.
The pieces that at first seem to have gone horribly wrong frequently turn out to be some of the best looking stuff we create.
Trust me, I have an ulterior motive in all this. This project has given me so many ideas from working with so many people, that I can’t wait to pour something other than a corn. This is why we keep meticulous pour records; so that we can re-create the best of what we’ve done in the past.
Hi Eric, How do you do? I’m Marian Spain 1986. I like your work very much. xxxLove & Good Luck
I purchased four kernals at the Melissa Morgan Gallery in Palm Desert a week ago for a new room we had built. We and everyone who sees them is crazy about them.
Cheers.