Concrete footprints, April - August 2021
I made 3 pairs of concrete footprints between April and August. Here are images of the first pair being made. The others were made in a similar way. In the weeks before the final assessment I cast a 4th set of concrete forms, this time with one of my sandals set in it. I called it Impossible shoe 3.
I wasn'tso keen on the cartoon-like cut out shapes of the sculptures, initially. I did consider remaking them as rectangles or each a different cut out shape, but I actually decided that when they become part of the assemblages they are less noticeable, and work well in the various ways I've installed them. I actually quite like the fact that they're potentially humorous. They make me think of the way that eg dinosaur footprints are preserved in museums.
Deciding to stand in the concrete was such a great process - as Gareth called it the 'squelch'. Concrete is extremely alkaline so I had to wash my feet straight away afterwards. I loved the way it was such an immediate form of mark making, familiar, like footprints in the sand, yet transgressive as it was actually a footprint in drying concrete. And once again, I was using the form and force of my body as I stood in the drying concrete to leave a clear print.
I wasn'tso keen on the cartoon-like cut out shapes of the sculptures, initially. I did consider remaking them as rectangles or each a different cut out shape, but I actually decided that when they become part of the assemblages they are less noticeable, and work well in the various ways I've installed them. I actually quite like the fact that they're potentially humorous. They make me think of the way that eg dinosaur footprints are preserved in museums.
Deciding to stand in the concrete was such a great process - as Gareth called it the 'squelch'. Concrete is extremely alkaline so I had to wash my feet straight away afterwards. I loved the way it was such an immediate form of mark making, familiar, like footprints in the sand, yet transgressive as it was actually a footprint in drying concrete. And once again, I was using the form and force of my body as I stood in the drying concrete to leave a clear print.
