Blue Banner with "Spring '16" in yellow letters
error: Once every few years somebody gets this activity very wrong and puts their hand in wet plaster while it sets. This IS NOT the Activity! This IS VERY DANGEROUS! PLEASE NEVER PUT YOUR HAND IN WET PLASTER AND WAIT FOR IT TO SET!!! The activity is to make a MOLD of your hand in SAND and then POUR plaster in your SAND MOLD.

To Repeat: Letting plaster set around your hand IS DANGEROUS and IS NOT THE ACTIVITY!

And by “Plaster” I mean a pool of it. If you have a film of plaster on your hands from working with it, don’t worry about that.

3 CSULB students holding up plaster casts made of their hand or foot

We’re going to make a Plaster Casting of our Hand or Foot this week. Lots of art and commercial objects are made this way. They use finer sand than we get at the beach and they have hinged molds so the part can be removed more cleanly, but the process is quite similar.

Liz Juarez’ Demo:

Michelle Perez’ Demo:


 

Seal Beach Pier on Thursday?

You can go to any beach you like on any day you like. I’ll go to the Seal Beach Pier this Thursday, January 28th, from 10am – 1p and help anyone who shows up. It’s totally optional. But it’d be nice to get to say Hi! if you have a chance to come by. And I’ll bring some iced tea in case you’re thristy!

• Seal Beach Pier – Just South of the Pier & Just South of Tower 2
• Parking is right there in a lot off 10th St. $3/2 hours or $6/all day. 2 hours should be enough time for your project.
• Or Try the Bus
 

Supplies

  • Metal Shovel (large or small)
  • Carton of Plaster – 4 pounds is great for 1 person
  • Bucket
  • Stir Stick
  • Paint Brush (optional, to dust off finished piece)

You might also like to bring:

  • Football
  • Frisbee
  • Swimsuit
  • Snacks
  • etc – Whatever you like while you wait 1/2 hour for plaster to “set”.

Process

  1. Pick a spot near the water – too far ashore: dry sand, too close: waves!
  2. Dig a hole you can insert your hand or foot into
  3. Insert hand or foot
  4. Use bucket to get wet sand and have teammates pour around body part and pack it in
  5. Remove body part carefully, trying not to damage your mold
  6. Make one mold (or more) for each team member
  7. Have all molds ready before mixing plaster – it will set in your bucket!
  8. TWO parts plaster & ONE part water in bucket – stir fast & hard
  9. Pour plaster in your molds carefully, not quickly, or it’ll damage your mold
  10. Wait about 1/2 hour
  11. Carefully dig out your casting – try not to break thin parts
  12. Marvel at your creation! :)
  13. You can brush sand off if you like, but DO NOT RINSE it, it will fall apart!
  14. For your blog post: show your piece & talk about your experience (photos or video as you prefer)
  15. Fill in all the holes on the beach – so nobody walks by later and falls in one!
  16. Pick up trash / clean up mess / leave beach a nice place
  17. Walk to Ruby’s, Cold Stone, etc, and eat food! :)

 

Maps

SealBeachPier-Map1 Aerial view of Seal Beach Pier with directions to parking and Life Guard Tower 2 where Art110 meets for Plaster Casting Activity

Your Blog Post

Like all activities, you should document your work with photos or videos. Discuss your experience. How did it go? Have you done something like this before? Can you think of ways to apply or adapt it to other activities in your life.

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