Temporal Metrics
With the use of a fragile material, one solely relying on sugar as it main component, there is an belief that there is an impossible urge to hold on to something no matter how fragile it may be. Also there is a primal urge with a compulsion to want to taste it. The idea of the ephemeral led me to back to the idea of time. Through an intimately surreal sculpture made entirely out of fondant I am suspending time. With the use of sugar, something visceral is triggered in the audience. The fondant is rolled out just as I would to make a cake. I drop in four drops of food coloring and continue to knead the dough. I added four more drops, knead just a little bit more, and press the sugar onto a heavily cornstarch flat tabletop. I rolled it out going with the natural grains that have been produced through marbling. Once it has been roll to a long sheet of 1/4” thick, I pick it up and drape it over a round structure. In this case I use a bowler hat. I left the structure over the weekend to dry and remove the hat, leaving only the fondant to rest on itself. The slight folds of the sheet harden yet look as though a silk scarf has fallen on top. The color, in this case being both green and red, is not to be read as symbolic; the marbling helps capture the fragility of the structure. The front is exposed revealing the ghost like structure of the fondant relying only on its self. The surreal quality of the wet looking material captures time in a frozen/ suspended manner. Gravity is also suspended with the idea of a sugar structure relying only on itself.
