Featured "Slag Art"

I hadn't heard of 'Slag Art' but I guess I'm a collector now. It's pretty cool.

This is 12" long, 9" high (30x23cm) and weighs over 10 lbs (4-5kg+).

Is it iron? Steel?

What are you guys' opinions on 'found' art in general? (In this case, 'foundry' art)

Thanks for any comments.

 

Whatever it may be, I doubt it's silver...bwdik?

 

Wow--- if it was silver I'd be a rich man!

 

it's neat

 

'Tis ugly...an' of questionable 'artistic' value, whatever the material. Without an artist, who adds intent an' creativity, how can industrial slag be considered anything but random junque?

 

I see an eagle holding it's prey, on the back of a turtle..........

 

It'll never be pretty, but it's interesting.

 

Yes, I think I tend to agree.... Art requires intent. Of course some artists subvert or modify intent, but there's still a human intention there.

That's why I don't think that elephants, or monkeys or orcas, trained to wield a paintbrush, for peanuts or bananas or fish, can ever make 'art.' There's gotta be an intellectual intention there, and that's what makes it human.

 

Got to admit-I'm 'foundering' a bit here trying to come up w/ a suitable comment.If one had a large exhibition of these pieces,would it be called a 'Slag Show' ?
PS-It's got an interesting and eye-catching MCM free-form abstract vibe. As far as no human hand intentionally creating it-think of it as an aesthetically pleasing item,like a piece of driftwood or beautiful mineral specimen.
Here's an article from Christie's on 'Scholars Rocks'-
https://www.christies.com/en/storie...holars-rocks-b39280a0d3ea4e5d81f4ad14eee2beb2

 

As @Potteryplease pointed out, we still consider assemblages of found objects as art. A human still observes an object, finds it pleasing, and makes a decorative display of it. This might be more simplistic as it's a single piece, but someone still made decisions about which way is up and put a base to it.

After all, Duchamp* created the artwork called Fountain.



"Whether Mr Mutt (Duchamp) with his own hands made the fountain or not has no importance. He CHOSE it. He took an ordinary article of life, placed it so that its useful significance disappeared under the new title and point of view – created a new thought for that object." -- editorial from The Blind Man (1917) concerning Fountain

I like the slag piece. It has an interesting dynamic shape and it's a blending of nature (allowing the metal to shape as it wishes) and man (the refining and manipulation of material).

(*It is contended Duchamp submitted this piece for a female friend. Read wiki for more.)

 

Slag is the waste material produced while refining iron or steel. It's all the crap and impurities that are removed. It is then slung on the slag heap. Probably where the derogatory term comes from. It will of course have some residue of metal left in it.

 

Weirdly, this sculpture of mine is not at all magnetic. I think means that it's neither iron nor steel. What could it be?

 

It has these structures:

 

Neat !!!

 

Bizarre. Maybe slag includes other metallic waste or maybe because it's not got the regular molecular structure of steel or iron then it's not magnetic. It's life Jim but not as we know it...

 

If you stick a banana to it, it could become million-dollar art

 

Crystalline structure!
A shadow of worthiness from those amazing facets...a redemption, of a sort. Very Good, Potts!

 

To be honest, I've been worrying today that maybe the metal is toxic? Apparently some slag is.

From what I can find, it's primarily if it's used as a blasting agent and makes fine 'dust' that could then be inhaled. That wouldn't be the case with this. The other danger is if ingested. And as for that, I have no immediate plans to eat it. Nonetheless, I don't want to handle it much if toxic metals are present.

 

Highly probable you're safe in simply handling that chunk...but you might drop the 'immediate' from your supper plans!