Wednesday 12 August 2015

Bury My Heart - Art Vend Oriel Wrecsam - Pit firing Ceramics




I have been selected to take part in this years Artvend organised by Oriel Wrecsam. The project was to create an artwork in a multiple of 50 that could fit into a capsule of 80mm. The capsules are to be distributed in vending machines up and down the country and the artworks are £1 each. I loved the idea instantly and was very happy to be selected.

The work I created was called Bury My Heart and contained 50 slip cast civil war bullets of six different designs. The bullets were my response to the 1890 massacre of Wounded Knee where American Troops killed 350 unarmed civilians 50 of which ere women and children.


The bullets were made in a production line and each imprinted with my initials - as was the tradition when creating bullets in this period. The bullets were then hand finished and fired in a pit using various materials including straw, salt, seaweed and a number of different metal oxides and carbonates. The fire burnt overnight and I excitedly looked at the results the following morning.





Once the bullets had cooled down and been cleaned up I began to see ho each one had reacted differently to the fire in relation to its placement and with regard the combustibles that surrounded it.







 The bullets were all photographed and catalogued individually and I have created a limited edition print about the project that is available to buy on my website click here to view

More details to follow on the exact venues of the machines - I will update the info on my website please click here to view 

More Info an Art Vend including location of Machines here