Corner Piece #3 – Part 1
I have always wanted to build a corner piece with a concrete core. Here are the two that I have previously made.
I had to be careful to provide a large enough footprint so that they would be stable. While I was building them I was thinking about concrete and the fact that the weight would help the stability of the piece. I now have the concrete skills to pull it off so I decided to jump in with a model.
There is no client involved so the model is a bit rough, almost like a 3D sketch.
This piece centers around the concrete so that I where I will begin. The concrete elements in my work are cast. This means that I will have to think inside out. The form material is a special plywood that is waterproof and has a smooth coating. I refer to it as “Red Board”
Here is the finished form.
Note: this component is cast upside down.
Now I will show the individual pieces that make it up. I need to stay one step ahead as the cast concrete can lock itself into a poorly designed form and require the destruction of the form to get it out. Yes I have made that mistake!
The back of the form
The front of the form
There is also a separate piece for the top (not pictured). All of the parts are caulked in place so that they will be water tight. I should mention that I use UHMW plastic to make the facets for the corners. I use the facts to relate the concrete to the rest of my work. Plus I can change them to give the casting a different look.
The concrete mix and the extra materials to give it a bit more strength go into the mixer.
The form gets loaded and agitated to encourage the bubbles to work their way out.
Three days later I free it from the form.
It was a successful pour!
To be continued…
Corner Piece #3
Part 1
Part 2
By Nico Yektai -New York based designer/maker Nico Yektai opened the doors to his Hamptons studio in 1995 after completing the MFA program at the School For American Craft at the Rochester Institute of Technology. The rigorous technical training complimented his background in Art History, which he studied, at Hobart College in Geneva NY. Yektai has synthesized this background into a singular style that has gained him national attention. Visit nicoyektai.com for more information
