Being an artist means that you lead a completely different life from others. People usually consider that sort of person strange and unusual. Indeed, you truly are different from others. However, the lifestyle you have is something that makes you unique.
Artists see art in everything they do. They use their talents at every moment of the day. Despite that, they are trying to find different ways to turn their ideas into reality. Because of that, there are many pieces of evidence that art does not have any limits.
Have you ever heard about concrete art? This movement is not new and you will find its traces in 1930. The creator of this term is Theo van Doesburg. He wanted to define the artistic vision that he had and highlight its differences.
Unfortunately, most people of today do not consider concrete as an art medium. The popularity that existed at the beginning of the 20th century disappeared. However, that doesn’t mean you should not know more about it. There are certain things that we would want to talk about that might change your opinion.
1. Benefits of Using Concrete as an Art Medium
The question that you probably have is – “Why would I use the technic from the beginning of the 20th century?” Just becomes something is not popular, that doesn’t mean it has no advantages. Some of them are quite important for creative people. Let’s find them out together.
2. Water Resistance Characteristics
Wood and steel are two of the most popular materials that people use to make different things. Yet, compared to concrete, there are many characteristics that they do not possess. As you might know, this material can withstand in water without any serious changes. Because of that, people use them to create different underwater and submerged applications. This includes pipelines, canals, building structures, etc.
Well, let’s translate this into the language of the artists. We do not know exactly which art piece you plan to design. However, you can be sure it won’t become damaged because of the water. Individuals that do not participate in this world do not understand how angry artists are when something bad happened to their work. Fortunately, this material can bring them peace of mind.
3. Financial Benefits
First of all, we need to say that concrete is available in all four parts of the world. You won’t have to invest a lot of effort to find it. Because of its availability, the price is also not high.
Every artist will tell you that their creations are priceless. Yet, that doesn’t mean they do not need to invest a certain amount of money to create a certain art piece. Well, something like that is not going to be a problem with this sort of material.
4. Resistance to High-Temperature
Wood and steel are not resistant at all compared to concrete. Do you know what calcium silicate hydrate is? It is one of the main binders that concrete contains. Thanks to this feature, concrete can withstand until 910 degrees Celsius.
We hope you won’t get mad because we are negative this time. Yet, it is good to imagine a worst-case scenario. Let’s imagine that there was a fire in the place where you work. There is a big chance your pieces of art will survive under these conditions. Other scenarios could happen, but we picked the worst one. As we said, the products that artists create are priceless for them. Thanks to this material, they are also safe.
5. Production
Let’s say that you personally want to produce your concrete. The amount of energy that you will have to spend is low. This especially counts when we compare with the steal. For instance, the production of structural steel demands around 8000 kWh/tone. When we talk about concrete, that number is smaller around times.
How to Create a Sculpture by Using Concrete?
Hopefully, these three advantages changed the way of how you look at concrete. However, this doesn’t mean it is easy to work with this material. You need to worry about many things before starting to work with it. For instance, you need to find the appropriate content for concrete mixes. For something like that, it would be good to use different helpful tools like aggregate test sieves that will make things easier. However, most people do not even know what aggregate test sieves are. Because of that, we recommend you visit certifiedmtp.com to find out more info about them. Every artist must know how to use them.
Anyway, artists use different methods of creating sculptures. It is hard to say which one of them is the best. That depends on your expectations, requirements, and talents. We will let you decide on one of them.
The first method is to cast it in a mold. A mold is a hollow form that is made of latex, aluminum, and plaster. Mold’s inner surface contains different substances like shellac. Thanks to that substance, the concrete won’t stick to it. The concrete will harden before you remove it from the mold.
Supporting concrete with a skeletal form or mesh armature is another way to create a sculpture. First of all, the armature is something you will have to make first by using wood, metal tubing, or chicken wite. The basic form needs to be filled out by using different lightweight substances like styrene. After you do that, you need to surround it with another metal wire or outer shell. Don’t get surprised if the end product requires wire support or layers of concrete. It is something you should be prepared for.
Conclusion
Every artist should chase to find different art mediums. There is a global problem in this industry. People usually follow the trends and they forget the main reason why they became artists. The point of making different sculptures is to enjoy your work. Indeed, concrete is one the only one. However, if it allows you to fully enjoy your work, then why you should not use it? Use different tools like aggregate test sieves to make things even easier.
