stop working with retarder

i was told to use drain cleaner as a retarder also but found all it did was bleach the surface. though this could be another way to trancfer the images on to the concrete i do not know if i will take this on to the next leval. Having had more experiments now I feel as if I have spent far to long on the concert retarders and feel this will take far longer to perfect. At this stage I am calling time on the retarders.
i will now focus on the shuttering and printing.

Start of the studio

This is the start of the home print studio I am hoping will not only help me with my course but also become profitable once I leave the college.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4iWbEVuRV0&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Experiments with retardant

I made a mix of concrete and put in to two moulds to which I then used folded chicken wire in place of a rolling tamper (which cost a fortune) to try and push the larger stones of the aggregate down.  I then used a asitate stencil on one,  as the retardant would soak through paper and left the other exposed as to reveal all its aggregate.  I sprayed on the retardant then waited the 24 hours before removing from the moulds. Unfortunately however the cement I used had been sitting open for over a year which means it had went off and cause the blocks once removed from the moulds to crumble. 
NEXT: Try again with new cement.

Interlocking structure

I made moldeds which from the paper template which should have fitted but once I traced round it, cut it out and sanded they didn't quite fit in to each other.  I also made the window surrounds to thin and there for delicate which meant geting it out of the vacuum formed mould was difficult and led to parts breaking.  I feel overall however that this could be really successful and plan to take this further. 

I feel that this would also help to show this universal size that would fit all people's lives that the likes of Le Corbusier and frank Lloyd Wright were in search for. 

Concrete retardant

Trying to find a concrete retardant was not easy sa the practice of exposing aggregate is uncommon in Britain, never mind making a pattern from it. The French seem to know best so had to get some rough translation and took a lot more further research to really try to fully understand the use of concrete and retardants.  I believe I know have a rough idea of what to do so now feel it is time to experiment.

Interlocking concrete prefabs

I have took photos in London,  Glasgow,  Cumbernauld and Stirling of modern brutalist architecture and find a surprising number are made from pre-fabricated concrete or metal which all interlock once on site.  I feel this will aid me in my work as I have often use repetitive multiples before.  I feel that the next step is to try and create a mold that interlocks with others to form a architectural structure.

Owen Hatherley ; the new ruins of Britain

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlE6RAvckPI&feature=youtube_gdata_player

links between Metropolis and Dunbars number

Dunbar's Number was created by Robin Dunbar's the anthropologist who studied group sizing in comparisons to brain size among primates.  he proposed that it was comfortable for humans to have 150 stable relationships, as any more requires a complex network of rules, laws and an enforcement of the norm to maintain a stable group. this explains how some find themselves isolated and often on the wrong side of the law as it is unnatural for humans to live together in such high density as in cities.
in fritz Lang's silent movie 'Metropolis' the top 10% elite function better as they are a smaller group and have more time to consider and understand one another.  the bottom 90% is made of the working class and as individuals are easily lost within the masses and except isolation of individuals as they preform back breaking work that dose not require much in the way of thought prosses. in Rome they would be described as the mob and as such, are quick to turn against anything not considered to be the norm. at the end of the movie after the riot the top 10% are still the elite, and bottom 80% are of the working class. however as a new go between class has now been created to entertained, distract and inform between the two other groups. we might recognise this today as the media who tell the masses what form there opinion should take, while getting pay rises from the elite.

Research

I am finding that my research is throwing up more questions than answers. Really feel that my sketch book is not reflecting the volume of research I have done so far. This started out as a wide field and it is expand more and more. I need to prioritise my research and be brutal about what I intend to read further into or drop.