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ASU foundry program melds artists, metal casters, public


October 01, 2009

The unique role of casting in contemporary sculpture is explored in a range of experimental work, in conjunction with the American Foundry Society’s (AFS) Art Casting Conference Nov. 9-14, which is being hosted in part by the ASU Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts. The conference brings together metal casters and artists for the first time since 1990. For more information, read the AFS press release.

Kicking off the Art Casting Conference activities, the public is invited to attend the official "Solid Solutions" exhibition opening at the ASU Herberger Institute School of Art Step Gallery 7-9 p.m., Nov. 9. The gallery is on the northeast corner of 10th Street and University Drive (located just north of the ASU Art Museum Ceramics Research Center).

The public can learn about both the traditional contemporary and nature of art metals, and about how choices of casting media relate to the content of artwork during the "Solid Solutions" exhibition which runs Nov. 9-20. 

The exhibition features art castings made by ASU Foundry students. Program participants have researched the re-creation of historical and contemporary metal alloys, from ancient Bronze Age copper-tin mixtures all the way to contemporary silicon bronzes. "Solid Solutions" showcases students’ results of metallurgical investigations, featuring sculptural work in combinations of bronze, brass, iron and aluminum.

Attendees also can mix with members of the American Casting Industry during a special reception at the ASU Herberger Institute School of Art Step Gallery, 6:30-9 p.m., Nov. 13.

In concurrence with the week’s events, the public also is invited to an ASU/Scottsdale Community College (SCC) Cupola Iron Pour, all day Nov. 14 in the back lot of the SCC art building. Observers will witness scrap iron transformed into a stream of molten metal in the white-hot blast of a small working iron furnace. For a campus map to locate the art building, visit: http://www.scottsdalecc.edu/maps/scc_campus_map.html

The "Solid Solutions" exhibition, receptions and Cupola Iron Pour are free and open to the public. To register for the Art Casting Conference, please visit: http://www.afsinc.org/content/view/816.

Public & Media Contact:
Mary Neubauer
Sculpture professor
ASU Herberger Institute
School of Art
(480) 251-7439
mary.neubauer@asu.edu