Stucco/Gluemaking
Table of Contents
Date and Time:
2017.[October].[16], [12]:[15][pm]
Location: Making and Knowing LabSubject: Stucco
Materials
Chalk, powered
Sieve
Rabbit Skin Glue
Marble slab
Tragacanth Gum
Muller
Glass plate
Paint Brush
The goal of this process was to produce “stucco” molds of small objects like stars and angels, which we could then paint and attach to canvas, mimicking an early modern palatial ceiling. The Making and Knowing soaked the Tragacanth gum in water to produce a jelly-like substance. We then crushed it on marble and kneaded it like dough, slowly adding chalk (which we sieved beforehand). The approximate amount of water to chalk was 6 grams of chalk to 60 grams of water—the chalk could take a lot of water. Due to an academic engagement, I had to miss the final stages of preparing this dough, but it was applied to molds of numerous shapes and sizes.
Name: Carl Garris
Date and Time:
2017.[October].[17], [6]:[00][pm]
Location: Making and Knowing LabSubject: Stucco
The stucco molds being prepared and removed, I turned to making glue for use in attaching stucco objects to canvas sheets provided by Naomi. We were faced with a question—did we need to cover the stucco objects with glue, or merely use glue to attach them to the canvas? The primary concern was whether the objects needed the glue covering in order to receive a paint coating. I did not think that our objects, prepared with stucco, would need a coating, as the chalk stucco was already similar in substance to the gesso one would usually paint on. We prepared rabbit-skin gesso for use in painting the objects while another group prepared flour glue to attach them to the canvas. We heated the rabbit skin glue (around 200 ml) in a jar inside a bowl of hot water, which we prepared through placing it on a hot plate set to 1. Jo Kirby explained it was important that we not go above 60 degrees C. It took around 5 minutes to reach 52 degrees C. We added flour with a funnel until the glue stopped absorbing it—the technique was supposed to not involve stirring, but we decided to stir very slowly so as to better incorporate the flour, but not generate bubbles. We measured via subtraction from the original flour. A color change occurred, the glue becoming a whiter color as it became gesso. We decided it was ready when the white no longer ran on the stick when stopped stirring and lifted the stick into the air above the jar. We used 16.64 g of flour. When it became time to apply the gesso to the stucco objects, I thought it seemed natural to cover them with gesso before gluing them down to the canvas. This method seemed natural to avoid dropping paint down on the canvas when painting, but Tianna and Naomi convinced me that it was more likely they would have glued the objects down then gessoed over the top to achieve a stone-work like effect. I wondered if it was ever used in a similar fashion for makeshift jewelry, but followed their suggested method. I painted 1/3 of the objects on my canvas sheet with rabbit skin glue, 1/3 with gesso, and left 1/3 bare. I then allowed them to dry.
ASPECTS TO KEEP IN MIND WHEN MAKING FIELD NOTES
- note time
- note (changing) conditions in the room
- note temperature of ingredients to be processed (e.g. cold from fridge, room temperature etc.)
- document materials, equipment, and processes in writing and with photographs
- notes on ingredients and equipment (where did you get them? issues of authenticity)
- note precisely the scales and temperatures you used (please indicate how you interpreted imprecise recipe instruction)
- see also our informal template for recipe reconstructions