I will have no shortage of gelatin, either, as I just purchased 25 pounds. I get it on bulkfoods.com as it is only about $8 per pound. I looked around and it is now a gourmet food and health product with much higher prices, one reason I overbought. Another reason is that another artist contacted me saying she would want to buy some. Most people find a pound is plenty, and I will sell it at cost (once it arrives) so email me at dmcwho@efn.org if you would like to get some.
We ought to give Chuck Shumer an award for the headline quote "Negotiating with (you know who) is like negotiating with Jell-O." Negotiating with Jell-O is such an apt description of what we do that it would make a good theme, but let's just leave it as a subtext for now, since March 31st is a long way away and there might be even funnier jokes by then. Here's our Facebook event!
We did pick a title which is also a theme and a starting place, but let me remind you we have barely gotten started. Generally divergence is wide with this pursuit of silliness. But here it is:
Jell-O Goes Gold!
Celebrating 30 Years
It's nicely open to interpretation, honors our age, and fits with several of the performance ideas we are considering. Sorry, way too soon to drop any hints, as there are at least three viable ideas that I wouldn't want to influence anyone about. But conveniently I bought the most glitzy gold glitter apron at Holiday Market, so at least one costume is on the rack. Costumes are probably the most fun part, so I will have more than one, but it's nice to have a centerpiece for an update on my Queen costume set. I may need to appear here or there before the show.
The show will be March 31st! I'm happy about that as Saturday Market's opening day is April 7th so I can go to both and my Market friends can come to the Jell-O Art Show if they can pry themselves out of their last Saturday of seclusion in their caves. At least it limits one excuse.
I have been promising some kind of review of last year's show, which in the post-show rush I never did write. I have tons of photos thanks to Ben Davis of Maude Kerns Art Center, who takes great
photos. His stills of the show are so vivid they almost have music...the sequence follows the performance really well. I'll add just a couple to show some of the most creative costumes and characters. I will say that this year we expect to have a lot of guests and celebrities, as it is a big deal to have a 30th show. I'd love it if a lot of artists came back from the past and did a piece or at least came to remind me about the masterpieces they did back when, because I forget so many and wasn't always paying a lot of
It sounds like way too much work to go through photos and highlight the creativity of last year at this point. Doing it as a series of posts might work a lot better. I've exhausted myself in past years chronicling my creative process and instructions for making the sculptures but I know people need a little inspiration and direction. I will still do this, of course, because I watch Victoria on PBS and I know about the responsibilities of royalty. Plus if I don't do it, who will?
Yes, of course, David Gibbs will post his stuff on FB and Instagram, which we are so grateful for, but mostly other artists slave away silently in their studios, often at the last minute, and then they don't really want to talk about it. Catching them at the show is the best way to really learn about gelatin art. The range of interpretations is actually astounding, and that's where you'll see it. There was a recent sighting of some of Celeste LeBlanc's work in Guardino Gallery in Portland...she is a serious artist who knows the medium very well and has inspired many, including me, so maybe she will post some things on Facebook. You can find me there by my real name, Diane McWhorter, plus my Gelatinaceae page, and while I'm on the subject you can also read my other blog, divinetension.blogspot.com , if you want to know more about other aspects of my life and art, or random things that only tangentially include Jell-O.
People send me things like this because they appreciate tacky. The Tacky Food Buffet is an important part of the show and something we should feature while gourmet gelatin is still hot...it can be very creative and way fun and there is always a crowd scarfing up the edible gelatin-based offerings on the tables. For the record, I tried making those gelatinas with the flowers in them and they are pretty hard to do. With the right tools, which I am sure you can purchase, they might be more fun and beautiful than the ones I made which I apparently failed to document. I threw them on the compost, and brought maybe a few of the most recognizable ones to the show that year, but it was 2014 or 2015 and I am not that tempted to master that form. Feel free to have at it. I would accept your tools if you want to throw them away in frustration. One never knows what future inspirations will take hold.
For instance, what if you didn't make flowers inside those, but other things...like bugs or profiles of celebrities or cows of history or something? Just encase it in a clear dome and you have both an art piece and a cool thing to serve. Clean your kitchen first if you want people to eat it. (Seriously. Use a commercial kitchen if you have access to one if you are going to serve Jell-O to the public.) Or just don't even try for edible. I find if I don't include sugar the ant problems are fewer and the rats will eat it regardless. Yes, I actually saw a rat on my compost pile eating my gelatinas after I threw them out. I had rats before they were so popular. Hey! A rat in a dome would be fun! Probably less fun if it is a dead one from your yard, but then again...it hasn't been done yet!
Okay, just some actual helpful info and then I'll go dream up some real ideas. I mostly make dried gelatin, but if you are new to this, the jiggly kind is the easiest to start with. Use less water than the directions, use cold water, let the gelatin bloom for about 5-10 minutes, and then melt in the microwave or on the stove. If you mix in hot water you get more lumps that are hard to dissolve. You can use Jell-O brand, or Knox or whatever offbrands you can find (which I encourage, so Kraft doesn't dominate the market with no competition although no doubt they have bought up all the competing brands by now.) I was going to try agar agar but it is hellishly expensive. Mostly those work fine and you might have to experiment a little to get the right recipe to retain the jiggle but get some structural strength for your probably ambitious plans. Molds are the easiest way to get shapes, and you can use all kinds of things for molds, though it helps if they are flexible so you can get the stuff out without having to warm it or break it up. Carving it and fastening pieces together is possible (molten gelatin is good glue) but it isn't very cooperative, as you'll discover. Slippery and slidy and you still have to get it to the pedestal.
Gelatin can be a frustrating medium to negotiate with, (and just try nailing it to the wall) but I enjoy letting it cause me random problems to solve like most art media do. At our show, props and non-gelatin additions are just fine, and you don't have to stick to the theme or any other kind of rule. We really don't need rules or an evaluative critical system, because the whole point is to have fun with art and everyone should be free to have the maximum fun. No one will say your Jell-O Art is bad. Believe me. The crowd that comes to this show is one of the most accepting, appreciative and loving crowds ever.
The recipe I use for dried is 3 ounces powder per cup of water so it's very stiff and nonedible, but I
I also make fascinators by adding hairbands to big flowers, and I might make more of those. It's an easy way to start, and fun and pretty.
So, you have my royal permission to get started. Let me know if you have questions, or post on the event page for group discussion. Have fun!
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