Corrosive Fabric

I am always drawn to the evidence of long time corrosion and the effects of natural elements that cause this corrosion such as weather and the presence of people.

Rust is an electro-chemical process that can be looked at as a drawing machine. It is a natural, dynamic element. The look and feel of iron (Fe) changes as the mechanisms of oxidization set in motion.

There are many colors and varieties of rust red/brown, black, green and white. Red/brown rust being the most common Fe2O3 (ferric oxide)

Mechanism of Red Rust:
three elements
1) iron
2) water
3) oxygen

The iron acts as the anode which is a piece of metal that readily gives up electrons
the water (which is an electrolyte) is the liquid that helps these electrons move. The iron is also the cathode, ( a piece of metal that receives the electrons) this can be the iron itself or another metal.
The water combines with the carbon dioxide in the air to make a weak acid which is a stronger electrolyte that plain water. The acid break down the iron. At the same time the water breaks down into it’s basic components of hydrogen and oxygen, the free oxygen bonds with the broken up iron in the process of the flowing electrons going from the anode portion of the iron to the cathode. The cathode can be an metal less electrically active than iron.

The rate of corrosion is affected by the water and is sped up by introducing stronger electrolytes such as salt or other acidic agents like vinegar.

Properties if Iron

Magnetic Properties

-can act as a mordant for natural dyes while saddening them
-ferromagnetic metal such as iron forms magnetic domains, in a magnetic field the domain lines up with the field creating a strong magnet. domains can get stuck so the material stays magnetized when removed from field creating a permanent magnet
-corrosion can lead to less or non-ferromagnetism
- (red) rust consists mostly of Fe2O3 which is not magnetic or very weakly so(doh!)
- (red) rust is paramagnetic, attracted to but not maintaining magnetism
-black rust which is another state of corrosion by being in constant water kept away from is super magnetic.
-black rust will turn to red rust once dried out

Electrical Properties
- hydrated rust, the kind of rust typically found at the bottom of the sea is fairly conductive because of the presence of more water molecules
- rust itself has little conductivity

Using Iron Powder and Filings
My experience with using these two forms of Iron brought upon some perplexing outcomes. Iron is fairly conductive and can be a powerful electromagnet. Yet I was not able to get any conductivity from a pile of these powders or shavings. Conductivity was present when I touched my multimeter to either end of a single small filing, but got nothing while they were lying next to each other. Rust produces a skin, and with this skin I was hoping to produce a bond across the top of the fine Iron powder that seemed to be lacking in by the iron filings laying side by side to each other.

Combined With Fabric

Continuing on my life-long quest and interest in researching and creating dynamic textiles I have decided to combine rust with fabric which is a revisit to a textile collection I designed in 2002 where I lightly experimented with screen printing with iron flakes.

Using iron powder I created a stencil and used it to sponge tacky glue down onto my fabric. I sprinkled the iron powder on top, pressed it in with the back of spoon and tapped it off.

The iron bonds with the cellulose fiber of the fabric, this iron can also be extracted from clay dirt. Dirt can also produce a interesting dye which I have explored by burying shirts for a couple days in a slurry of vinegar, digging them up and seeing how the pattern was dictated by pooling and folding of the fabric once buried.

Safety
Tetanus and rust are often closely associated. I for one needed to look into this while playing around with it and needed to if I would want to use it on items sold to the public (rusted textile designs).

Tetanus is NOT caused by rust, it is caused by a bacteria that grows in many common, wide spread areas. It is always said to occur by stepping on a rusty nail, the rough texture of the rust can be a place where c. tetani can survive because of the low oxygen environment, but rust itself does not produce the bacteria. The nail however seems to be the most dangerous part. Rather, it’s the nature of the wound. The bacteria is killed by the exposure to oxygen, so you will not be affected by a shallow cut, however the deep puncture of a nail can be dangerous once it transfers the endospore from one low oxygen environment to the next where it can flourish and seriously harm you.

Here is the MSDS sheet for Iron Oxide:

Routes of Entry: Inhalation, Skin, and Eyes
Health Hazards (acute and chronic):
To the best of our knowledge the chemical, physical and toxicological properties of iron oxide have not been thoroughly
investigated and recorded. Iron compounds have varying toxicity. Exposure to iron oxides is potentially a serous risk in all industrial
settings. Some iron compounds are suspected carcinogens. In general, ferrous compounds are more toxic than ferric compounds.
Acute exposure to excessive levels of ferrous compounds can cause liver and kidney damage, altered respiratory rates and convul-
sions (Sax, Dangerous Properties of Industrial Materials, eighth edition).
Inhalation: Acute: May cause irritation of the upper respiratory tract and possibly acute iron poisoning.
Chronic: May cause chronic iron poisoning.
Ingestion: Acute: No acute health effects recorded.
Chronic: No chronic health effects recorded.

Triangle Tee

I chose the triangle in favor of the futurist who worshiped industrialization and war. The futurists often used the triangle in their textile designs as a symbol of movement, it is a pointer, an arrow that signifies a direction. I chopped out the top in order to create a negative space in the solidness of the shape, a small framing of which the oxidization to spread to.

Before adding vinegar and water

30 minutes

2 hours

3 hours

5 hours

8 hours

21 hours

Uniform of Rust

Clothing should be adaptable, transformable therefore comfortable and useful in may applications. This outfit was inspired by movement and choice by the wearer.

• First mode) is a simple sleeveless tunic.

• Second mode) is the tunic with long sleeves

• Third mode) is the long sleeve or sleeveless version with a panel that acts a canvas for the rust drawing to occur.

• rusted panel

rusted overnight

after 1.5 hours after second spray of vinegar/water

Midterm Studies

Something I have been moved and interested by for years has been the unintentional beauty in the subtle differences of buffed out walls. Knowing the intention is to cover up a more intrusive piece of perhaps offensive work, you know the person who applies this layer is only to to cover up. Yet, when I find these shades of grey and blues and see the offset of in the values, they cause me to react more than most pieces I will see in a gallery. This has to do with the pure emotion I feel to these amorphous blobs and abstract shapes, rather than looking at something that has a clear image or a piece that has real intention that you look for or feel wrong about applying your layer of meaning to.

The other part to this that has always caught my attention is what time and presence has done to wear down these layers.

I see these as proof of presence or the absence of presence. These layers are like time capsules, each layer like sediment in an archaeological dig, representing a time and the people who put it there.

The balance of accumulation and erasure.
Here are some pieces of a reverse graffiti artist Moose that uses erasure as his method of drawing.

This is one is done by an artist named Orion. Once it was discovered what he was doing, the authorities were baffled as to how to reprimand him. They ended up decided to bring in fire trucks to spray down his creation by blasting away all the grime

Natasha Kidd is an artist I found that is highly inspirational in the way of building a drawing machine.

extended study – drawing machine

Assignment
create a simple physical drawing machine
create a color drawing with that machine

I wanted to explore the balance of additive and subtractive composition.
My first thought was to create layers fabric of different colors, secure the layers in a jar (either in the bottom or in the lid), drop in a sharp blade, close the lid, shake and see what happens.
What I found after the first experiment however, was without proper pressure applied to the blade, none of the fabric is able to be cut away.

My initial inspiration came from a piece my friend had given to me. It was one of the plastic cups that you get to pee in from a doctors office. What someone had done to it was put in different colors of paint, dropped a small metal bearing inside and shaken it up. After being shaken around, it produced a scribble of color on the inside, that you could see from the outside, since the cup was clear.
I remember the outside had been completely covered with pinks, whites, yellows, blues, all very intricately involved with one another, without a sliver of the clear plastic left unoccupied.

Once my subtractive idea didn’t would, I decided to recreate the piece mentioned above with a small piece of paper stuck to the inside of the jar. I added a rock and one color, closed the lid and shook it up. I continued to add two more rocks and more colors. As the separate colors swept across the inside of the cup in distinct graceful lines, within the open space of the cup, the globs of paint mixed into a indiscernible shade.

here you can see the piece of paper inside with the mixture of pigments caked onto it

after all the pigment dried inside, the piece of paper was removed

this is considered the second piece created simultaneously with the piece of paper which had already been removed

the back of the above

the three rocks now embedded within the pigment

This was a successful process and fed into my interest of creating additive compositions, the next step I will take will be to put the paper in with some razor blades and see what can be cut away from the built up pigment.

extended study – illustration

Assignment
“Make a hour long extended drawing. Take a photo at 10 minutes intervals. You may use something from life”

the photo I used as reference taken by Syed Salahuddin

10 minutes

20 minutes

30 minutes

40 minutes

50 minutes

60 minutes

70 minutes

80 minutes

90 minutes

Final

Assignment
same as above except “You may not use something from life.”

I decided to use this assignment to create a concept drawing for a wearable sound project my sister (Sarah Grant) and I are working on. We are to present this on 10/17 at handmade music at 3rd Ward. The project is called Audiotrails.

Here are some preliminary drawings:

Final illustration that I presented at Handmade music