plaster bandages

2023: Entombed in plain sight

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This is a project for my Master of Fine Art Studio 2 course. It consisted of an installation of bound cuttlebones, demonstrating innovation to transform an unsuccessful experiment into a beacon of hope. As shown in the image below this work features plaster-bound cuttlebones floating in space and time, trapped for eternity in acrylic trophy boxes. The work traverses a regenerative arc, first repurposed as a memorial to extinction and then evolving into a post-human life-form.

The use of green wax to coat the cuttlebones is symbolic. While originally a technical necessity for casting (green wax being the only colour available), the colour suggests chlorophyll and in turn photosynthesis, nature’s non-destructive way of converting light into energy.

Hence while intended to memorialise sea-life, colour and composition opened up the narrative possibility of an absurdist form of post-human life, and concurrently, the redemptive possibilities of solar energy. The intended affect was thus amusement, and hope at the transformative possibilities of recycling.

Photograph by Elizabeth Cole of plaster-bound cuttlebones in acrylic boxes on legs. Materials: cuttlebones, wax, plaster bandages, acrylic and metal. Dimensions: boxes 32 wide x 23 deep x 20 cm high, legs 38 cm wide x 45 cm high. Dimension per assembly approx. 34 cm wide and 65 cm high. Level 3 Building 49, RMIT 2023.
Photograph by Elizabeth Cole of plaster-bound cuttlebones in acrylic boxes, mounted on legs in the corridor, mobilised for flight. Level 3 Building 49 RMIT. 2023.