Amber - nature´s most spectacular way to preserve its ancient creatures for millions of years. Insects or
plants get caught on the sticky surface of fresh resin and are fully
inclosed by additional flow. After millions of years of hardening, the
resin becomes amber containing a perfectly intact inclusion. If letters were of organic origin they might have been trapped in tree resin too. During the age of digital print processing the letterpress letter became extinct - but we still can marvel at its amber inclusion.
Exhibit 16/1-9 of my project series "Evolution of Type" is my first experiment with polyester glass casting resin. It´s a sticky business and the form is half the win. I cut some letters, then covered a stone in plasticine, took the stone out and used the plasticine as a mold. Working with polyester glass resin is tricky when it comes to coloring, timing and calculating the amount of hardener. Since the liquid resin is a yellowish substance - which gets clear while hardening - it is hard to estimate how much color to mix in. While adding more hardener speeds up the hardening process this heats up the casting block considerably which in turn might result in a cracked piece. I guess everyone working with this material had to learn some lesson. I deliberately included some air bubbles, bread crumbs and pepper in the liquid resin to make it look like natural amber. Check out the whole project on http://www.behance.net/andreasscheiger
