After my disaster with bleaching bones I decided to have another look around to try and find different animal parts to cast. I went into a local pet store in which I found a pig trotter and a cows ear which are meant as dogs chew toys. The pig trotter especially appealed to me. I was looking for a symbol to represent the Animalisation of humans. Hands are a vital source for communication for humans, they are what we touch with, how we enable ourselves to feel things and others.
I began to cast the trotter in Latex. After a chat with Rob he decided that this would be the best way to go about casting the trotter. My aim was to make wax casts of the trotter. I wanted a material that I would be able to remold and that would be flexiable and easy to use. I also chose to use wax as I thought the trotters would take on a nice effect when cast in wax.
Starting to cover the trotter in latex:
Pig trotter with dried latex, marked with lines for covering with modrock:
Latex Cast of trotter covered with modrock, ready for filling with melted wax:
Melting the wax ready to fill:
After melting the wax I needed to wait for the wax to cool down before pouring it into the mold. I was using the hollow casting technique in which I poured the wax into the mold, swirling it around to cover all of the mold. I would then pour out the wax and then do the same thing over and over again. After a thick enough layer of wax covered all of the mold I was able to leave the wax to cool.
