Continuing with our report on the Silt-Cast bell technique from Monday, we follow the bells through to their next stage of creation.

Here, you see the bells in an early phase. The moisture content of the air and the amount of sunlight on the day that the bells are poured affects their drying rate. At this particular point, the excess slip has been removed with a ladel and suction device to ensure a uniform thickness around the edges of the bell.

At the next stage, you see that Ceramics Manager Edward Werman carefully plucks the bells from their silt molds and lines them on the front counter. The bells are not completely hardened at this point. Instead, they have dried to the point that the Ceramics artists can handle them without misshaping the bells. On the Ceramics webpage, Edward notes a unique aspect of the Silt-Cast method: "Since the walls are firm but not solid, it is possible to make indentations directly into the silt mold walls which also get filled with slip. These negative impressions translate into positive relief patterns on the surface of the bell when it is removed from the mold. This feature cannot be duplicated with the plaster molds since they are solid structures."

Finally, the Silt-Cast bells are lightly doused with water, to remove the residual silt from their outer edges. Edward points out some more of the variations between Plaster-Cast and Silt-Cast bells: "Another difference concerns the surface of the silt mold which has a rough texture reflecting the characteristic of the sand and this feature is picked up by the surface of the bell. The plaster molds have smooth interior surfaces and its bells also pick up and reflect a smooth surface."

This report continues on 5/9/08.

As the weather gets warmer, Ceramics Studio staff prepares the silt bed for a pour of silt-cast bells.
The silt comes from the Agua Fria river-bed and is pre-moistened and then sifted into a concrete trough.
[from left] Ceramics manager Ed Werman sifts the silt through a screen while staff Joelle McTigue shovels the very fine silt onto the screen.
Ed uses a master made of plaster, that is shaped exactly like the bell to be produced. This plaster master is carefully plunged into the silt, forming a conical cavity in that silt. When the master is removed it leaves behind a mold in the silt, shaped exactly like the master.

Raw clay is mixed with water until the clay dissolves and forms a thick milk-shake-like consistency known as slip.
This slip is poured into the silt molds and then allowed to set.
Silt acts like a sponge drawing out the water molecules from the slip. The clay molecules are too large to pass into the silt, so they get deposited along the inside walls of the silt molds. [Joelle and Rebecca pour slip into the silt molds].

As this process continues a clay shell begins to form inside the mold which increases over time. When the ceramicist decides that the thickness of the shell is correct for that particular style, a suction device is used to extract the remaining liquid slip from the center of the mold leaving the shell behind. This shell is the bell in its early stage of production.
[Ceramics staff Joelle, Rebecca, Colleen and Ed from the roof of the Ceramics Apse].
This report continues on 5/7/08.

While Paolo Soleri was in Rome for the conference on sustainability in April 2008, he also went to Naples to attend a special conference organized for him by Professor Luigi Fusco Girard at Naples’ prestigious School of Architecture.

The conference was attended by about 200 students and professors. Architect Iolanda Lima, author of the book “Soleri, Architecture as Human Ecology” also attended the event.
Paolo Soleri’s presentation included a complete slide show of his most recent projects, including SOLARE and the SUN DIAL BRIDGE designed for the Arizona Canal in Scottsdale, AZ.