Art Concrete Guest Gallery: Bill Horst

Bill Horst
Springfield, Missouri
Fabric form concrete casting

   
Left "Trident", 2007, 4.5'
Right: "Zendo", 2006, 2.5'

Horst works by casting concrete into fabric forms.

"I've been working with concrete off and on since the mid 90's. It's under-representation as a creative medium, outdoor durability and the fact that it lends itself to projects of all sizes contribute to its appeal. Couple these aspects with the various stains, pigments and admixtures available today and one has a medium that offers a great deal in the way of possibility."

"The basic technique is rather simple in its current incarnation:
1) sew up a form using a stretchable fabric (my first experiments were with panty-hose)
2) then place the concrete in the form (some type of tremie may be required...I use various lengths and diameters of PVC pipe)
3) consolidate either by tamping or a small internal vibrator
4) as the piece grows vertically, place sand around the piece to hold it in place and prevent the concrete from slumping
5) after attaining the intial set, clear the sand and remove the cloth (if left too long, the cement paste that invariably seeps into the fabric sets too hard for easy removal).
I've experimented with pouring from top to bottom and from bottom to top, different types of fabric, different fibers, armatures vs no-armature, etc."
-Bill Horst

This unusual technique has also been used by Mark West at the University of Manitoba.

Sculpture, concrete

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