Mice in the cupboard - ice sculpture

@stijgerart and I made this giant cupboard with mice for the 2005 Hamburg, Germany ice exhibition and for the life of me I don't remember what it represented. So while viewing these photos your guess is as good as mine. While looking through the images from the project I did see a lot of fairy tale type images so maybe it was based on some sort of child's story.

So, this post is going to be more about how we made it rather than what we made.

Convertible ice wall

We were given a large stacking of ice and asked to created some sort of super sized cupboard. The wall itself was just a flat wall with a step out around chest height. We began by creating the top profile which we wanted to give a bit of life too by adding a sweeping curve with scrolls at the ends. This immediately gave the boring wall some character and suggested all that was to come below it. 'Lets try to use as little straight lines as possible and no rulers or measuring tapes.'

We then used the ice we cut from the top to build pillars to give the thing some depth and support what was to be done next.

We cut the top curve free from the rest of the wall and carefully slide it forward till it was supported by the pillars we had fused in place. We repeated this process twice adding lots of water to freeze it in its new position. This gave it the appearance of an overhanging top molding and really started to give the cupboard character and 3 dimensionality. Being able to cut the blocks of ice and slide them around like Tetris is one of the magics of working with this material and something Wilfred and I were pioneering with this project. (I hope I am making sense with my description.)

Once the drawers were formed in the bottom all the rest was just fun playing with details.The pillars were cared into two spiraling cylinders and windows cut in. Most of the ice cut away was used to make other details here and there.

As I mentioned I really don't remember what the piece was to represent but the giant nice were something we were asked to add to the design and these we made from snow to give the piece contrast. They were fun to make as we gave them various poses and interaction. The mouse sliding down the top was a challenge to lift into place as was the center piece up top.

Balancing act

We had to come from the back but there wasn't enough room for scaffold so we used a plank of wood over the edge of the mezzanine. We put the board on the floor and pushed it out overhanging the edge and then enlisted the heaviest sculptor and wilfred to stand on one end while I crawled out with the mouse and centerpiece over the abyss.. If Wilfred or Kimo moved I would tip over and head straight for the ground. The things I do for my art. I must really have trusted those guys.

With the center piece we tried to make it as a lens which people could look through to see the exhibition below. Getting the ice perfectly clear would happen in its own time as it melted. Unfortunately we never got to see if it fully worked but you hopefully you can see something in this image.

We were happy with how it looked in the end. Using many curves and details really gave what otherwise could have been a very static piece lots of life and movement. Even to tacky lighting that they add to these projects seemed to work.

Wilfred really loved the piece, maybe a bit too much and loved to curl up in it's curves while resting after a job well done.