tentacles cast 1

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Exciting day – first cast off the new 150cm mould.  I loved how the inverted cast looked like a mini-boobscape, it’s fantastic when the work has resonances with previous works.  The cast was easily demoulded with just a little split at the base, and at 150cm has quite a presence.  The texture is subtle and yet evocative.  Now time to start making more – it takes a minimum of a week to make a cast, and each will be individualised along the way.  Hoping to amass a large number of them to play around with install possibilities.

Work in progress – OktoLab

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Over the last hot week or so I’ve made up the large (150cm) and small (50cm) Plasticine moulds – now to start painting on the latex layers for the casts.  Reading ‘The Case Against Octopus Farming’ and watching videos of people drying octopus in the sun … despite, or because of, the wonderful things I have been reading about octopuses – I have ended up looking at how we exploit, use and consume these wonderful animals.

work in progress OktoLab

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IMG_4741

I’ve been working on some testers for OktoLab recently, and I’m now ready to make the moulds for this project.  Key themes are emerging regarding the peculiarities of Octopus breeding, ‘motherhood’ and current attempts to factory farm octopuses.  At this stage I’m envisaging an installation that includes a multiplicity of tentacles and eggs – but things might change as I produce the final casts.