view three untitled implosion sculpture in Paris. Print

A conceptual Sculptor. I wanted to develop a novel way to shape my abstract works with water pressure, which is technically challenging - but not impossible!! My desire is to accurately control the final shape of my sculptures and my intention is to create organic flowing shapes within the metaphor of pressure/change and human adaptation.. I designed and fabricated the reaction vessel and lifting equipment for the lid as (it) alone weighs over one hundred pounds. I used my engineering skills to acquire all the other hydraulic equipment I needed to be able to effectively and repeatedly crush my works. When using liquid pressure I bend the skins, and design internal supports to resist in places I choose, Sometimes I choose to document the internal volume that is displaced during the process. Nothing seems to be easy with the process, As I cannot see what is going on inside the vessel during the implosion process. therefore I have to judge the change by the amount of water displaced, and the noise coming from inside along with the pressure reading on the gauge if it is holding steady I know it is changing, if it goes up I know there is little or no crushing going on...and if the pressure drops away I know I have torn the skin. The other difficulty is I have to paint and clear finish them only when the process is complete, as the paint and clear finish would crack and peel if applied before, and applying paint to the highly contoured surface is tricky but not impossible.. Pressure is a constant we feel in many subtle ways, and also something we need whilst living on the surface of the earth, and that is why they pressurize aircraft as we move away from the surface... Ian V Curtis Fine Art.