The Applause - Mark Amis

Sculpting process by Mark Amis;

'My original idea was to produce a mould and cast the work in concrete. This idea was discarded because of the prohibitive weight. Ideally a cast bronze would be the best solution but the fabrication budget of £5,000 was about £30,000 short for that process. I was more or less resigned to producing a cast “bronzed” resin structure which would also fall outside our budget.

I remained confident there must be a way of applying a metal finish to a fabricated structure and unsuccessfully searched the internet for the solution. Feeling a bit down about my fruitless surfing, I was bemoaning the fact over the counter at a nearby sculptural material suppliers, when a stranger overheard and handed me a scrap of paper with a local phone number “this guy reckons he’s invented a way of doing just what you were talking about” This led to my meeting with Brian from Metall-FX, the samples looked superb and the process perfect for the fabrication technique I felt competent with.

With work about to start on a new studio extension necessitating the demolition of my workshop, there was nowhere in which to build the support frame. I colonized an old veg patch, laid a new base and with the help of my friends, relocated a shed. Work could now begin on the welded steel frame. This was designed by photographing a models hand wearing latex gloves onto which the main lines of the hands had been drawn.

Then a balsa wood scale model was carefully constructed, approved by the Borough architects team and box section steel purchased and cut to size. There then followed three days of careful welding to produce the main frame and subframe.

Once painted with an anti rust product, the fabrication proper got under way. Galvanized wire mesh was attached to the frame to give a rough guide to the surface. Once accurate and secure this was surfaced with a layer of glass fibre laminate and voids filled with expanding polyurethane foam to give further adhesion to the frame and increased rigidity to the structure. A further layer was then applied and once cured; the whole work was checked for both accuracy and artistic expression. This was a disappointing stage as the work was still far from what I had envisaged. Having tried various remedies, the defects were removed after a trip to the pub and an assault with an industrial angle grinder. This process is no different to erasing an errant line from a pencil drawing but much, much more fun! Within a few days the sculpture was back on track and the end was in sight.

I then began work on the final laminated layers. Using coloured resin to ensure even coverage, a higher grade of laminating material was used. First yellow then black, by this stage the structure was extremely heavy and at the height of summer temperatures soared to over 100 degrees. This meant the resin cured at an alarming rate and there was no option but to work faster. Being so heavy also required a lot of effort to maneuver the structure and care had to be taken to avoid injury and damage.

At this late stage I discovered one of the forefingers was wrong so out with the grinder (and beer) again. Once remedied, a final layer of aircraft grade woven glass fibre and reinforcement to the extremities was followed by a thin layer of polyester filler to render the finished surface. Countless hours of sanding and shaping followed before the application by spray of polyester filler which was then sanded to a good finish. More hours were spent getting this layer to an acceptable finish before a good coat of 2pack high build primer was applied which was wet flatted to leave a perfect ground for the application of the metal surface.

The unique process of metal veneering begins with the application of a special preparation to promote adhesion. Due to the revolutionary nature of the product, details are a closely guarded secret, however ventilation in my studio was insufficient for the process and we soon realized that the sculpture would have to be coated in more suitable surroundings, so my good friends once again turned out to move the work to the front of our house in order to be transported away. This was no easy task as by now the new extension was in place and the heavy sculpture had to be moved through a hole left in the wall and out through the garage.

After devoting the best part of the summer to this project I had mixed feelings watching it disappear and was a bit like a first time father, ringing up every couple of days to check on progress especially as I was now told this was the largest piece to be coated in this way and some teething problems had been experienced.

All my fears where put to rest when I next set eyes on Applause, it seemed nothing short of alchemy and resembled a traditional bronze in every way. I was delighted.

The subframe had been mounted in a specially constructed plinth inside the newly created courtyard and even though it was relatively straightforward to install, this was a very worrying time for me and I was only able to relax once the final nut had been tightened.

It was a great moment when my creation was finally unveiled and the positive response from the Art Centre staff and general public has made all the worry and hard work worth it.' © Swindon Borough Council 2004-09