Casting the lockers and objects

Here are some images of the change room lockers and the objects placed on top of them for casting.  The beauty of the casting portion is that we can cast almost anything using a similar compound to the "mini locker" exercise the students participated in previously.   All of these images were taken by Jasmine in her studio.  We decided since the compound required to cast such a large surface had some levels of toxicity (unlike the mini locker compound which was non-toxic) that this portion ought to be completed without students present and with the proper safety equipment in the studio. Jasmine was careful to keep to student ideas in combination with her own designs.  We now have funding for a potential 6 benches.  The two benches featured here are the lunch and book benches.  The books came from our art department in the form of collected cast offs and the lunch was Jasmine's selection.

Notice the incredible detail here on the books - including the embossed text on the spine.  The sandwich stuck to the casting material, however now inedible, will be forever remembered in concrete in perfect detail.  Once the initial mold is made of the exterior (pink part), then the mother mold is cast to strengthen the outer layer (white part).

We are now preparing for concrete casting day.  Jasmine has spent a fair amount of time researching what kind of concrete to use and how best to cast our design with longevity and structural integrity in mind.  One detail different from the original design is that all benches will be cast in the same tinted colour as opposed to each being a different colour. Through industry experts, Jasmine discovered it was not practical nor effective to try and hand tint the concrete ourselves on such a large scale.  As such, when the concrete truck arrives on site it will contain a uniformly coloured - the vote was for yellow - concrete material. Jasmine has researched coloured sealants that will also do the double duty of protecting the benches and enhancing the colour intensity.  We have not ruled out spot colour (i.e. tinting the object a different colour so it will stand out).  Skala has designed benches for the rest of the space that will be simple, elegant and smooth rectangular grey concrete forms - a perfect foil for our pop of colour and texture.

We are now at the point where we will are planning the details of the pour and demold on school property.  We do not yet have a confirmed pour date, but it will be soon.  Stay tuned!