Collaboration on a charred and rust cube assemblage

 

One of the goals Fiona and I set for ourselves for this trip to the cottage was to make one or two sculptural assemblages. Using a cube (230mm) off cut from The Fishers Post we have worked together to produce the gorgeous cube above. The Fishers Post was made from 9 long salvaged used fence posts glued and nailed together.

If one is going to make a charred sculpture one of the steps involved is charring the wood. This is a very exciting process as it can appear very dramatic. Fiona and I set the timber cube on a large rusty panel behind the shed on a relatively still day; and used clarified turps to soak the timber for the burn. We always have a bucket of water on hand to quench the flames when the charring has reached an acceptable point. Below are a couple of the images from the burn; and a couple from the quenching.

Our rust stash was added to by five 70mm square washers our friend Karen gave us - along with other rusty bits. After sorting through our rust bank and testing a few pieces we knew we had more than enough for the project - see below.

One of my tasks was to cut the pieces to size and drill them ready for assembling - see pieces below.

The assembling was done in the studio, aka garden shed, as the day was inclement. A few assembling photos follow. Even the nails, nuts, washers and bolts are salvaged and recycled. There is rusty metal and objects on five faces of the cube.

Fiona getting hands on - note the sooty hands in the second photo below!!!

Complete and ready to head outside.

Finally the cube was ready to go out the front and be set inn place on a flagstone.

This was a great art piece to work on with Fiona today - and we are delighted with the outcome. A mix of photos by Fiona and I.