How to build a fire sculpture, documents of Fire Fox

Fire art - Don't try this at home

Safety organized Fire-sculpture-art event is spectacular happening. - Anyway everyone is aware how dangerous fire is. The wind can also be unpredictable. This art need always permission and co-operation with Fire Department.
Fire art is not about playing with fire or simply burning up a piece of art. Fire should transform the piece, not destroy it. The artwork must hold its integrity before, during and after ignition.
Working with fire is like working with wild animals; you can't turn your back on it for a moment. Performing a full-body burn takes intense psychological preparation. There are also physical precautions to make, including protective apparel. Even so, ended up with second-degree burns on arms is possible.
Don't try this at home.
Despite of that all, there has been succelful educational projects also with School classes.

to create a fire sculpture

There are many possible ways to create a fire sculpture. A silhouette-like work of art, whose parts are, say, burning drawings, is the easiest to create. A three-dimensional construction In function art is more difficult. The work can, for example, include parts which create movement or sound. In a mobile work, the movement is created by carrying it or making it move with the help of some mechanism.

Fire captures time and space very concretely. Momentarily changing the physical character of the place it also changes its meanings. Fire’s ability to give light alone is a powerful factor. Strong contrasts, for example water-fire, cold-warm and light-darkness, draw attention to the characteristics of the place in a certain time.

After you have found a good place for you idea, you have to co-operate with Fire Department. -Public events use to have also parking problem.

Materials:

Commonly used materials are wooden bars, straw, wire gauze and lighter fluid. Wood and wire gauze are used to make frames, which are filled with straw that has been made compact. A fire sculpture can also be built from rags and old fabrics on a wooden or metal frame.

Fire Sculptures are rather large constructions. Quite often, they reach a height of between 5 to 7 meters, while the width depends on the subject matter.

Make a sketch and build a scale model of the construction.

Working team

Fire Sculptor usually is a team work. If your team do not have skill of carpenter, you have to ask helping hands of woodworks workshops.
During a Championship in fire-sculpting a team gets eight hours time to constructed the sculpture. There is lot of handwork. Normally it takes several days to construct a work.

This documention photo serie is showing a situation when the pieces of sculpture are made in workshop and had to move to its right place.

Fire

A moment before the beginning of the event, the sculptures are moistened with igniting fluid, -lamp oil or kerosene. The work burns from a few seconds up to several minutes when the supporting structures fall apart. The pieces that are left can be burnt in a campfire. The wire gauze and nails that remain unscathed are collected as waste.

Fire Sculpture Events issues to suport the community and collaborative work

The celebration with spectacular fire sculptor event is a way of building and supporting the community as well as collaborative work

Fire has always played an important communal role. Throughout the ages, human beings have considered fire to stand for warmth, safety and the possibility of life. Stories have been told by campfires, and through them, the feeling of community and the common worldview have been strenghtened. Fire also has its destructive side, however, which is shown in fires and arsons. Because of its dual power, fire is connected to different types of rituals and beliefs.

The Art project is a suitable tool fo starting social communication and interaction. Bring different communities and wide public together trough making and experiencing art
Also the School pupils can assess both the process and the final outcome and can discuss the art concept: does a piece of art have to be a permanent monument or is an experience enough for a person?

referensis:

Fire Fox team

Artists from Finland:
Leaders; textilartist Helena Kaikkonen and sculptor Minna Kangasmaa
assistents: Tuomo Kangasmaa, Anneli Kreetanniemi.

Riverlights http://ace.ulapland.fi/jokivalkeat/
communal and environmental art event. Different communities and wide public is brought together trough making and experiencing art. From art world’s perspective the groups differed a lot: some consist of professional artists, some have very little to do with so-called high art. This diversity is the very strenght of Riverlights.

The project managed by Auli Palosaari, student of arts as part of supplementschooling for fine arts, “Arts exercise” 2006. Lecturer Maria Huhmarniemi from the University of Lapland’s faculty of arts also came to Kokkola to educate the teachers inenvironmental and communal art. photos and text http://ace.ulapland.fi/Projects/lapland/koko_kokko/kokko.pdf

Maria Huhmarniemi: http://www.mariahuhmarniemi.net/
- artist and teacher in art education at the University of Lapland, Faculty of Art and Design, Department of Art Education, in Rovaniemi, Finland.