Vinegar Experimentation, The Last of the Rust

Whilst finding out and uploading my ball photographs I came across more rust photos. This was an experimentation that came after my lace rusting where I purchased some silk material and soaked it in vinegar. I then used string to tie the soaked material to a rusted piece of metal so the rust would transfer in a pattern, much like tie dye. I was inspired to do this by the work of Liz Plummer (see earlier posts)

It didn't quite work out as effectively as I would of liked and I think that was down to my piece of rust not being circular enough, therefore the way the material could be tied to the rust was limited.Here are some of the results. I would change this factor if i was to continue with this direction of my art as well as experimenting with the amount of contact time the material is left with the rust and then analysis the process and the results and adapt the process to create ideals. I could also vary the tightness of the string and evaluate this impact upon the end result.

This is after 3 days attached to the rust.





It was definitely worth the experimentation as it is something I have never done before and i like the way each result would be different. It links to the process art i was so fond of last year also, which reminds me of Mcniff (1998)

"The process knows where it needs to go and if it is exclusively directed or controlled by one person, we miss the opportunity to learn this lesson" (Mcniff, 1998, p24)

Mcniff (1998) Trust the process, an artist's guide to letting go. Shambhala Publications. Boston