Making Cultures - Form and Matter

Rethinking Moulds

Shriya Parab

Introduction

Moulds represent a predetermined formal intent. And so the entire experimentation through this course is based on rethinking about this concept of having a predefined and predetermined formal intent. This intent is informed by the making methods and the variety of processes involved in the making. Moulds are embedded in the structure itself and have a direct relationship with the form which we sometimes tend to refrain from. So, a particular form that you achieve through a process which may be a mold then shapes in turn the other material .Here, I’m aiming to investigate the factors that affect the formation of mold and articulation of the process required for it to take place .

Intent , Context , Questions

The intention is to explore the ways of thinking about the idea of molds as whenever we hear the word mold, we already have imagined a particular object by thinking of a certain predetermined form and a specific type of cast with a specific type of material for it. We always tend to subdivide it in vertical and horizontal planes. So, everything gets pretty defined and concept of the form and the material nature gets lost somewhere in this process of thinking .

The questions for exploration were

How are the molds getting generated? or how are we creating them?
How does the material shape the mold ?
What is the relationship of the mold to the form and how is it generated?
How does the mold itself generate a form ?

The factors that basically affect the process of making or modification of molds largely are the proportions – what is the proportion of one material to the other material , the forces being applied on the materials , the behaviour of the material in various states and so on.

So the main study revolved around Exploring the casting processes using flexible materials to cast or to mould as material fluidity can help in conceiving unpredictable forms. The play with the concept of ‘control’ and the loss of it is quite challenging. Casting with flexible materials results in organic and slightly unexpected forms in which each piece might differ from each other. This casting technique can still be considered a prefabrication system, but one capable of producing flexible outcomes emphasizing the physical characteristics of the casting. This concept resulted in emergence of the very intriguing discussion of - How can the approach of regulating the material change?

While performing all these experiments the key pointers to keep in mind were

human involvement
scale
form
techniques involved in making
proportions between the materials to be used

The following are some experiments which intend to explore the possibilities of the above mentioned factors and questions .The material used for casting is plain cement mixture as it tends to provide the flexibility and freedom of the taking any form and the material for making moulds was majorly wax as it gives us a major benefit of melting it after being casted . They give us the liberty of making meltable molds.

Experiments with wax to study its profile formation in various conditions

-the aim is to study the behaviour of wax as a fluid material. what all possibilities does the wax open up due to its viscosity and its natural behavioural reaction with water at various temperatures

Experiment 1.1: Cold water in molten wax

Method - The method and requirements are basic and simple.

Learnings and observations

Wax is less dense than water and so starts floating and accumulating at the surface forming layers at some places. The penetration distance of wax in water are affected by the buoyancy forces and the height from which the wax is poured in.

Experiment 1.2 - Hot molten wax in normal temperature water without container

Learnings and observations

The wax starts taking form as soon as dropped in water. However , it can be seen that the wax takes different forms at different places. the process of formation of these intricate details are by layering due to the force exerted by the water on the molten wax.

Experiment 1.3- Hot boiling water poured in hot liquid wax

Learnings and observations

The wax when poured took time to settle and take form as compared to water at normal temperature. In water of normal temperature , the wax takes form instantly . After cooling , it resulted in a grainy form which starts branching and the wax starts settling and accumulating in the form of layers at the surface.

Experiment 1.4 : Using crushed ice and then pouring in hot melted wax

Learnings and observations

The wax took form and solidified within seconds after coming in contact with the water. But then the major issue is that it can be removed only after the ice is completely melted. also, the proportion of water and the wax to be used becomes important as more water in wax will lead to formation of more intricate and delicate forms . So, the experiment can be modified according to the requirement.

Experiments using cloth

-where the surface area of the cloth becomes the limit for the formation of the mold

horizontal profile

The aim was to investigate how the cloth and the wax both influence the formation

materials used - a thin stocking fabric , normal temperature water, molten hot wax

procedure and observations

The main ribs that are formed and can be seen are due to the direction and height from which the wax was poured onto the fabric material which floated on the water. The two major depressions in the form are due to the push that is given to the cloth from surfacial level to deep inside the water for the wax to dry up and solidify faster. but instead, it takes these creases texture . also , the lines or ribs formed are along one axis .

here, the cloth wasnt tied anywher and jsut kept floating on the water .the cloth did not sink down and also the wax didnt go through the fabric even when it was a stocking material.

vertical profile

The aim was to replicate the horizontal process in the vertical at first but the issue was that as soon as hot wax touched the water it starts solidifying so then setting up of the fabric is in itself a difficult task to achieve .

materials used - thick cotton cloth , normal temperature water , molten hot wax

procedure and observations

the cloth was first fully immersed in wax , and then held very carefully to keep the hollowness of the cloth intact , and then dipped in water .

After removing it from water, it gets pretty hardened and stiff as compared to the inherited flimsiness of the cloth . it takes form according to the pressures of water acting around it and also the weight of the wax on it might slightly affects the twists and that happen due to the flexibility of the material

To use natural landscape or mud as mold

The aim was to see how can a natural landscape be used as a mold and use a plastic sheet so that the casting material doesn't merge with the mold.

The aim was to get the texture of the mud .The mud being wet it sticks with the casting material which is cement mixture .

Using solid materials , that are shaped and crafted - having predefined forms

The intent was to craft the thermocol in order to get the texture of the mold and not limit the use of mold only to its form .

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