Enrico and I clamp Fluke’s base while Piero drives wooden dowels to pin it together
Ene and I spent the past few days preparing the foam parts of our Fluke sculpture for assembly. After priming the surfaces with latex paint, skim coating the open cells with joint compound and sanding them smooth, we applied a texture in plaster, modeled by hand over the entire surface of the whale tail. With the help of Piero Mussi, owner and founder of Artworks Foundry in Berkeley, and his friend Enrico, we assembled the sculpture for the first time. Enrico and I held the parts in place while Piero pounded wooden dowels to pin them together. Next week we’ll put finishing touches on the assembled form, texture the seams, and disassemble the parts for the foundry to make molds for a wax positive to be cast in bronze.
Assembling Fluke in Artwork Foundry’s gigantic fabrication facility in Richmond