June / July 2013 Issue 1 Materials and Techniques for Life Casting, Life Casting, Mold Making and Casting, Ceramics and Stone Carving PremierePremiere IssueIssue FeaturingFeaturing thethe ArtArt ofof LifeLife CastingCasting Amazing Under Water Life Castings Eco-Sculptor Jason deCaires Taylor, A.L.I. If It Looks Like a Duck . How To Cast a Complete Arm Without Distortion Getting Started In Sand Casting Everything You Need To Know To Set Up a Hobby Foundry Monster Movie Mask Making Its New, Its Hot and Sooo Easy June | July 2013 ARTMOLDS JOURNAL | 1 June | July 2013 ARTMOLDS JOURNAL | 2 JUNE / JULY 2013 VOLUME 1 | NUMBER 1 Features 5 PAUL MCCARTHY AT HAUSER & WIRTH McCarthy’s ‘Life Cast’ on view through July 26th in NYC BY C. FLEISHMAN P 5 P 13 7 AMAZING UNDER WATER LIFE CASTINGS Jason deCaires Taylor is an internationally acclaimed eco‐sculptor who creates underwater living sculptures. BY ROBERT FOREST 13 GETTING STARTED IN SAND CASTING Everything You Need To Set Up a Hobby Foundry BY PAUL ENCOYAND 18 IF IT LOOKS LIKE A DUCK . Or How to cast a complete arm in the round without distortion . BY DAVE PARVIN 23 MONSTER MOVIE MASK MAKING P 7 P 18 Its new, its hot an sooo easy BY ANTHONY GIORDANO Departments CONTRIBUTORS PAUL ENCOYAND is the founder and CEO of Budget Casting Supply, locat‐ 4 EDITORIAL ed in Sonora, California. Budget Casting Supply is an industry leader in aluminum, brass and copper forgings 5 SOLUTIONS CENTER and foundry supplies . Publisher Ed McCormick ROBERT FOREST is a writer and sculp‐ tor with over 30 years experience in 6 ALI NEWS Editor the art industry. Frank J. Fedel, MS, CES Staff Contributors ED MCCORMICK, CEO of Environ‐ MATERIALS EXPLORER Arlene Strom Molds and manufacturer and supplier 12 Dave Parvin of life casting and mold making and Robert Forest casting materials. Distribution 17 TECHNIQUES www.magcloud.com DAVE PARVIN is a Denver area sculp‐ tor who may be reached at parvinstu‐ Advertising [email protected] but who much [email protected] prefers to talk than type (720) 971‐ 22 STUDIO TIPS 0824. PHOTO CREDITS THIS ISSUE 26 ADVERTISERS Cover, iStock Photo; P 5. Hauser & Wirth, P. 7‐11 artmoldsjournal.com Jason deCaires Taylor; ; p. 12‐16 iStock Photo; P. 17, E. McCormick; P. 18‐21, D. Parvin; P. 22‐25, E. [email protected] McCormick June | July 2013 ARTMOLDS JOURNAL | 3 EDITORIAL The Q & A n reflecting on my past 25 years of taking your year old who was telephone calls and answering your mold making killed in an acci‐ and casting questions I think about how fortunate I dent. Thankfully I am to be considered somewhat of an industry ex‐ was able to refer pert.I It is something I really enjoy as I meet so many the family to a great people in doing so. Actually, up until last year I lifecasting sculp‐ never though about it. That is, until I was doing an In‐ tor in their area ternet search recently and found that some of my arti‐ who helped with cles on alginate impression materials and mold making the task. were being used as refer‐ ences in an academic research papers as far The call usually starts with, away as Eastern Europe. The call usually “I have a quick question.” starts with, “I have a quick question.” But But more often than not, the usually the answer is not answer is not so brief. Ed McCormick so quick. Sometimes the Foundry Bronze Life Casting by Roy Butler question is so obscure that I have a difficult time understanding what the caller Of course the majority of the questions are the basic is actually after. At those times I find I have to be detec‐ kind: how to make a mold or a casting, what materials to tive‐like to probe for information. It is helpful to know use and how to mix and apply them. what the questioner wants to wind up with, or hold in The Q & A sessions are really a fair trade, as over the their hand, at the conclusion of the process. That way I years I have learned as much from my callers as I have can work backwards to determine the most efficient taught. There is no just one “right way” in the mold making and cost effective material for casting and mold making. and casting business. Those that have been doing it for a There are times when I am called rude as a result of while have developed their own studio tricks, shortcuts and trying to drill down to get to the nub of a problem. special techniques that they have shared with me. I have Sometimes, a caller will hang up because they think I been only too glad to pass them on so that others may ben‐ have not grasped their problem well enough to resolve efit from them. So give me a call and ask your “quick” ques‐ it. Those, of course, are the most disappointing calls. tion, as I look forward to helping you. Fair warning though, The questions are so varied that I never get tired of the answer may not be as brief. listening to them. One person inquired as to how to keep their false teeth in place using alginate after Sea Bond discontinued their product line. Others concern home made prosthetic devices. Over the years a num‐ ber of calls have been about helping to create death Edmund J. McCormick ,Publisher/Editor masks. One touching call in particular was about a 10‐ If you have any comments about this editorial or anything else that appears in ARTMOLDS JOURNAL, email me at [email protected]. I can be reached at 1‐908‐273‐5401 June | July 2013 ARTMOLDS JOURNAL | 4 SOLUTIONS CORNER The Handy Hand Sander Here is a cheap trick that offers valuable results Vibration, though IKES! Those darn air bubbles are at it again. certainly not as effective Y They ruin the look of an otherwise perfectly as vacuuming or pressur‐ good casting. Worse, they appear inside your mold rub‐ izing, can none the less ber providing weak spots in the walls, with resulting significantly reduce most air bubbles. After all, vibration mold dimples. But what to do if your studio is on a is used to eliminate bubbles in the largest of concrete budget and you can’t afford a vacuum chamber and pours so it can be very effective in table top pours of compressor or pressure pot? your molding and casting materials. You got to vibrate my friend, just vibrate those bub‐ To be more specific I am not referring to any such bles away. devices that one might admit to having stored in their All liquids contain air. When the liquid is at rest (not night table. What I am referring to is a very common being stirred), thin liquids give up air more easily than tool — the hand sander. Duct tape the sander to the thick ones as the air can rise more easily to the top. table leg on which your mold or casting sits, and turn it Most casting rubbers are more viscous, tending to keep on for about ten minutes for your mold rubbers, and air trapped inside forming those unwanted air bubbles. perhaps two to three minutes for your quick‐setting casting resins. Then watch the bubbles rise to the top as you reduce the coefficient of friction in the liquid. VISIONS Sculptor Paul McCarthy at Hauser & Wirth McCarthy’s ‘Life Cast’ on view through July 26th in NYC ew York, NY… Hauser & Wirth will devote its entire spring program in New York City to Paul McCarthy, one of America’s most challenging and influential Nartists, via three interrelated exhibitions and an outdoor sculpture presentation. McCarthy has garnered international acclaim for – and provoked lively critical debate with – a constantly evolving oeuvre characterized by wildly dark humor. ‘Paul McCarthy: Life Cast’ (on view through 26 July) showcases ‘Horizontal’ (2013) is a haunting depiction of the artist in uncanny highly developed themes and narratives coursing through and con‐ full‐scale replica, naked and necting different areas of McCarthy’s vast and complex practice. Here prone. Sculptor and life those themes are revealed through platinum silicone life casts – bra‐ casting artist Paul vura replicas of the artist and Elyse Poppers, one of the key perform‐ McCarthy. ers in his most recent projects ‘Rebel Dabble Babble’ and ‘WS’. Kazuhiro Tsuji, a prominent Hollywood special effects artist, su‐ pervised the mold making and casting of McCarthy’s body. Tsuji’s incredible work includes a larger than life realistic bust of legendary makeup artist Dick Smith. June | July 2013 ARTMOLDS JOURNAL | 5 ASSOCIATION NEWS ALI Guild Tops 1200 Members T he Association of Lifecasters International (ALI) announced that its membership roster topped 1200 mem‐ bers. ALI is an artists’ guild of professional and amateur lifecasting artists and sculp‐ tors, lifecasting enthusiasts and life‐ casting material suppliers. The goal of the Association of Lifecasters International is to promote the art of life‐casting world‐ wide and to provide a standard and level of professionalism within the field on which the art community can rely. ALI membership consists of both artists and sculptors as well as those who appreciate the art form and want to learn more about it. ALI counts among its membership some of the finest life‐ casting artists from around the world. But it also be‐ lieves that its growth de‐ pends on edu‐ cating new artists about this medium and as such, boasts many members of various levels of artistic achievement from stu‐ dents to masters.