studio glithero: running mould bench

‘running mould’ bench in situ

‘running mould’ by london based anglo-dutch studio glithero is a gallery bench made in situ for ‘design by performance’ exhibition in belgium. to create this piece, a pivot point was constructed in the middle of the gallery space, and used as the starting point for the design around it. wet plaster was poured on the gallery floor. in the process of curing, a large wooden running mould with a sharp zinc profile was pushed through the paste-like material. this was repeated many times, building up layer after layer, to leave a perfect plaster extrusion behind. after drying out completely, the result is a hard plaster bench.

‘running mould’ bench in situ

‘running mould’ bench in situ

‘running mould’ long bench

bench frame

bench frame

bench frame

bench frame detail

bench half complete

pivot and zinc profile

‘running mould’ side view

zinc profile

the making of ‘running mould’

the ‘running mould process’ is an interpretation of the artisanal technique of making plaster cornices found in classical architecture by running a zinc profile through wet plaster. typically, the running mould or ‘bench mould’ is made and left on the bench surface of the craftsman and serves as a mould to make a number of casts from. by translating this process to this scale, the intention was to create a spectacle that has the power to trigger an intrinsic understanding of an object, its process, origin and material. all the parts of the story were purposely left in the exhibition space; the product, the mould, the overspill, and the tooling. in doing so, it asks the visitor to piece these parts together to make sense of how the object came to exist.

the making of ‘running mould’

this 12 metre long bench took 3.5 tonnes of plaster and a team of 9 working continuously with the material on location in the gallery space.

the making of ‘running mould’

the making of ‘running mould’

the making of ‘running mould’

the making of ‘running mould’

‘running mould’ materials

‘running mould’ is currently available for viewing at Z33 until may 30 in belgium.