Movable feast (part 1) - sand sculpture

This is my second attempt at writing this post. I had it all but complete and during formatting pressed some strange keys, only for my computer to gobble it all up, never to be seen again. Then I have been so tired with health issues these last few day I really didn't have the energy to restart it. Luckily, now I am on the mend so I will give it another go. This is part 1 of a 2 part post. I thought it better to split it and dedicate each one to a particular facet of the sculpture. I also made a documentary of the project and I will share that with you also, but all in good time grasshopper.

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Are you sitting comfortable? Then we'll begin

In this day and age our senses take a battering. With Loud noises, exotics smells and visual overload It gets hard to enjoy the subtleties of the world around us. But, If you are anything like me food is just for sustenance as I shove it down my neck so I can get to the next thing that needs doing. It's been a long time since I just sat and enjoyed the melody of favours.

The five senses

We were back in Dublin Castles courtyard for the fifth time, This annual event was a big source of pride for me and I always wanted to up my game and create something special, especially for my home town. Having the funding to make five sculptures we set on the theme of The Five Senses and picked from a hat who would do which. I drew Taste and began to think of what this meant to me.

In my opening paragraph I mentioned that I was always on the move, not having time to enjoy this every important sense so I thought I would try and incorporate this movement into the piece. The overall form would be of a large cylinder of sand carved into the shape of teeth. This abstract mouth would serve a second purpose and that was as a Zeotrope. I will explain that in Part 2.
Around this central structure were five different banks of sand each carved in very different textures spiraling towards the center.

I know, I know. the whole thing looked very strange but the scariest thing is that it makes complete sense to me.

Say ahhhhhhh!

Making the cylinder of sand called for some new techniques to be invented. Instead of the usual wooden forms to compact the sand I got some sheet steel and clamps and made some very large cake tins. I had seen a similar technique used in Spain and thought Id give it a go. Instead of a big whacker to compact the sand I used a vibrating poker which is used for cement. This is a big metal shaft like an industrial strength dildo. It vibrates the sand and water mix till it settles into a solid mass. In the center, which I knew I would have to hollow out I placed beach balls Their form would keep the sand out and make voids in the block which would make my job a lot easier when it came to carving the inside.

Once I hollowed out the core of the sculpture, made much easier by the beachballs which I deflated, I removed my cake tins and made a little tunnel to get in and out easily. I would fill this in when I had made the final touches inside. We will talk more about them in part 2. I really liked this abstract mouth type thingy that I had created. The gaps between the teeth made it look very light and airy and working on the inside looked to the audience like I was in a cage.

Very tasty

Thinking of ways to express the five different tastes was fun. I wanted to play with different textures that held some sort of symbolism to the taste they portrayed. Maybe I was the only one that would get it but it was a fun exercise.

Sweet

Using an ice-cream scoop I made hundreds of little balls and placed them one by one on a smooth surface. The roundness was pleasant, like sprinkles on an sweet ice-cream.

Salty

For salty, I thought that since it is a crystalline mineral I should make it as a sharp geometric structure.First I lay out a slab of wet sand and cut this into little blocks which I then stacked all over the bank of sand till it was covered. I took ages but I have the patience of a saint.

Bitter

Making the sand very smooth, then stabbing it and twisting the tool gave me the sensation of bitterness. The sharp broken pieces gave it a desert like appearance of dried out cracked up soil.

Sour

For sour I just raked the sand. It was a nice contrast to the other forms. I pursed my lips while I did it. Think Mick Jagger chewing a wasp.

Umami

Umami is a strange one and one many probably never heard of, (Go on, admit it, this is the first time you heard that word, even my spell check is confused) But, believe me it is one of the 5 basic tastes. It means Savoriness and is like what you get form mushrooms, anchovies or rich cheese. MSG which they add to Asian food really bring out the taste and it is why fast food is always laced with the thing.
I carved this to look like liquidey sloppy goo dripping down, as I think that says it all.

A bit of a mouthful

Overall a very weird sculpture. So much fun to make and it really made me think about every mouthful of food I tasted during my lunches and evening dinner. It is an amazing sense and one that we sometime just have to stop and enjoy the cacophony of flavours out there.

In the next part of this post I will talk about the Zeotrope aspect of the sculpture. So I'd like to invite you to dine with me again and please bring a friend.

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Ps

Thanks for reading. I use Steem to document my work as an ephemeral Sculptor of sand, snow and ice, among other things. This will hopefully give it a new life on the Steem blockchain. Below you will find some of my recent posts.

Dragon race - sand sculpture

Circus - sand sculpture

Romulus and Remus - sand sculpture

I hope you'll join me again soon
@ammonite

[//]:# (!steemitworldmap 53.343017 lat -6.267766 long Movable feast (part 1) -sand sculpture 2006 d3scr)