Cement Rock Block Sculpture
Block No. 7
In the care of Cheryl Bukoff
With Block #7 we decided to do another crevice but this time open it up--more of an open bowl than a narrow ravine. On the one hand we liked that this would show more rocks. On the other hand we also knew we would be making the crevice or cave less "private" and "hidden." We decided to experiment with this tradeoff and push it toward the "more rocks" side. Essentially we just put a big mound of clay in the wooden form--butting it up against one of the sides--and just stuck lots of rocks into this mound of clay. We we were making lots of small aesthetic choices: which side or part of this rock will look the best when it is revealed? Which rock will look best next to these other rocks here (and will it fit)? Should it be sticking out further or less than its neighboring rocks.

Cavern opening facing up

In Block #7 we also decided to experiment with giving the facing of the block some texture and character of its own. Instead of just a smooth cement surface with a hole or crevice in it, we sought to make a textured or varied surface and to see how that looked (and felt) to us. To accomplish this, we put down some small pieces of flat wood on the bottom of the cement form before putting the clay mound-with-rocks in it. We knew that the cement would fill-in in between the wood, making that place where the cement would "stick out" on the cement block. Like so many things on this project, we had to visually arrange things and at the same time think about how it would look "in reverse."

Cavern opening on its side
We were hoping that Block #7 would help us figure out whether it was the look and feel of the rocks OR the look and feeling of "enclosure" that we really wanted to pursue on this creative journey.

© 2007