http://www.vimeo.com/17590295
A huge graphite crucible, fired by a furnace, is filled with bronze ingots that are melted. The metal begins to melt at 1700°F. Bronze “seizes” (stops flowing) when confronted with cold, which might occur if molten bronze was poured into a room temperature shell; therefore at the same time the bronze is being blasted by a natural gas furnace, the ceramic shell is heated in a kiln to approximately 1100°F.
When the “Dance of the Pour” begins, the crucible is lifted by crane out of the gas furnace. At the same time, the glowing ceramic shells are brought out of the kiln to the pour area. Two artisans operate the crane that holds the crucible in a “jacket.” The artisan with the controls is the “lead pour,” the artisan maintaining the crucible balance is known as the “deadman.” A third member of the pour team pushes away dross and slag on the surface of the molten bronze.
The entire pour is very fast and very precise; one crucible of bronze holds 100 lbs and can fill one or One large shells or 4 or more small shells. The first pieces poured are those with thin walls and intricate details; requiring hot, fluid bronze to move throughout the channel system. The alloy cast at Artworks is known as Silicon Bronze. The metal is made up of the following elements: COPPER 94.0%, MANGANESE 1.1%, SILICON 3.9%, TRACE ELEMENTS 1.0%. Silicon is an additive that helps the “flowability” of the bronze. It achieved widespread use during World War II when lead and tin were in short supply
Peter Bill is an Artist, Activist and Educator. He has, since learning photoshop v. 1.5, been interested in connecting under-represented communities with digital tools so their voices may be broadcast. He has been involved with large scale video projections, guerrilla art actions, and community building since the 90s.
Peter Bill's award winning paint and video landscapes have shown in such diverse venues as The Kitchen(NYC), the Henry Art Gallery(Seattle), FILE Festival(São Paulo, Brazil), and other international venues. He continues in his Oil paintings and video work to weave the painterly with the digital, pixels and paint, indigo and 191970 blue. He envisioned and realized the first time-lapse film festival in North America, the Gila Timelapse Film Festival and has curated and directed shows on three continents. "Art must be realized on the streets, as an agent of change and progress."
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Much of my art has been about creating a vessel, a space for meditation. Through my painting and video installations I hope to create a moment of quietude, a contemplation of this world we have built.
In my mural and documentary film work I have balanced a certain transcendentalism in my heart with my didactic scots-yankee bones. In the public sphere arts role is to inspire and provoke. Therefore in my mural projects I have attempted to involve the local community in the conception and realization of my projects. In my animations and short films I have attempted critiques of the bathetic apocalyptic culture we live in, the false utopia of the California landscape, the contested landscape of New Mexico, and tried to get to the situation on the ground in war torn Bosnia, among other subjects. The world is a complicated, granular place. We cannot oversimplify with our stories, but we can in their telling change opinions, and thus change the world for the better.
