Why Jell-O?

Be assured, I will be providing lots of tips and tricks as we get closer to the Jell-O Show, but really, Jell-O Art is very simple: it all happens with you, in the privacy of your kitchen, where you cannot make any mistakes.

I don't mean you have to be careful, I mean that the nature of the Jell-O Art world is that anything goes. There are no rules. There is no good or bad Jell-O Art, though that does not prevent the mightly artist ego from trying to dominate...maybe that is where you (I) need to work.

The idea is that Jell-O is such a ridiculous medium, so impossible to manage, so clunky to finesse, so resistant to technique, that it can be high art: all self expression. It's something familiar, easily transformed, magical.

There is no critical structure, no evaluating, no rejection and no financial value...it is pure fun. 

The substance itself, its clarity and brilliance, its intense color and seductiveness, will lead you to a place of joy and you just have to follow. 

So put on your apron and free yourself! Jell-O is not food, in our Jell-O Art universe. It is symbolic, representative, evocative, liberating, creative force in action. It's deep play.

At least that is what I have deduced from 25 years of indulging  myself in this media. I consider Jell-O Art to be what made me a "capital A" Artist. Through it I discovered my creative process, my blocks, my fears, my strengths, and my challenges.

My personal creative process goes like this: Start in January, if not sooner. Think about the theme, if there is one, and how it might relate to me. My pieces are almost always self-referential in obvious ways: whatever I did in the past year, and am presently creating, comes to play in my Jell-O.

I bring all of my gathered life-skills with me. Paper-making, screenprinting, cooking, chemistry, sculpture, painting, calligraphy, sewing, you name it: it all works into my piece at some point.

Whomever left this on the roadside must have seen me coming.

So in the beginning I try to stay open, and broad, and just take a blank sheet of paper and start listing every word or phrase that comes to mind. I start to scan my world for things or images that resonate. I shop a little, usually at the Goodwill or library, looking for things that relate, and amuse me. Old Jell-O recipes, images from its 100-year plus history, (I have the book "Jell-O, a Biography" which includes some stuff about our very show) and odd items land on my kitchen counter and my brain makes its vague connections.

At the same time I mix up some gelatin and make something. I might try out a mold I found, or make some flat sheets like I did last year, or some pieces of a particular color. These just get me into the process. I like to leave myself starting places to come back to, so I don't get stuck.

Gradually over the three winter months my ideas coalesce and magic happens. The t-shirts come at the end when my ideas are as ready to transmit as possible, and the show is fairly pinned down. Still, it doesn't happen until it happens, and that three-hour show is the real art piece. It's about way more than the Jell-O for me.

That's some of the thinking behind the scenes, and I'll tell more. You will be happy to know that the performance is in process and has already diverged wildly from any original concept that might have existed in someone's mind. The group creative process of writing the show is quite similar to mine, but multiplied and extrapolated and collaborative and quite wonderful.

My individual role as Queen will be doing a lot of promotion, a lot of assisting, set creation, throwing out clever one-liners, enriching the fiction, stuff like that. It seems that I will also be on stage, but from now on I will try to say very little about the content of the show...it's better if it's a surprise, and that you have to be there to make it happen.

It will be hilarious, there is no doubt of that. It will be HOT! And so cool. It will be so much colorful brilliance and movement your head will spin and your neural pathways will open and you will be forever changed. This is Jell-O Art. 

So get yourself some Knox brand in the big box. It costs about $9 now I think, though I buy plain gelatin 25 pounds at a time on the internet for about $8 a pound. Mix up a few packets anywhere from 4 to 12 times stronger than the directions (more gelatin, less water.) I usually use 3 oz gelatin per cup of water, as I have been working mainly in dried gelatin for the last few years. Add some color with whatever you have. I use procion dyes because I have a lot of them around, and food coloring is too limited for me.

Mix it in cold water, stir and let it bloom for ten minutes, then melt it in the microwave or on the stove. Then you can pour it in molds, or for the dried gelatin variety, pour it in dishes in layers about 1/8" thick. If you are letting it dry, peel it from the pans and flip it to dry both sides, experimenting with its qualities at various stages. 

Experiment with your medium. It is supposed to be fun. Amuse yourself. Play!

That's all for now. There will be more. You have some time to let it percolate in your brain and soul and heart, because that is where the groove is. Find your groove. Dance.

Groove is in the heart-art-art-art-art....

Frequently asked questions

I did a little FAQ sheet so thought I could also post it here. I keep telling people the instructions are on the blog but you probably have to look through a bunch of posts to find them.

Basically, if you are using Knox, make it about six to eight times the strength listed on the packets. I'm currently using 3 ounces of gelatin per one cup of water. Let it bloom in cold water and then melt it in the microwave or stovetop. Pour it into dishes, in thin layers. Pry it out when it gels, and tear or cut it into pieces, or fold it, whatever suits your purposes. Let it continue to dry until it is fully dried, in a warm place. If it starts to mold, remelt it, brush it with bleach, or throw it out and start over.


And the FAQ's:

What is it? Jell-O Art is made from gelatin, dye and water. It is air-dried and glued together with more gelatin. I don’t actually use Jell-O Brand gelatin but call it Jell-O Art because it comes from the Jell-O Art tradition.

Jell-O Art Tradition? The Radar Angels have held an annual Jell-O Art Show for the past 23 years, right around April Fools Day at the Maude Kerns Art Gallery. I have exhibited every year and started making the dried gelatin about ten years ago. Celeste LeBlanc was the first artist to display dried gelatin. Yes, I am a Radar Angel, just not part of the performing “wing”. Google Gelatinaceae. I’ve also been blogging about it for years in the archives of divinetension@blogspot.com.

Can You Eat It? Every craft comes with an annoying question. The current answer is “Why would you want to?” It is technically edible except for the dye, which is toxic in its powdered form, though in such tiny amounts here that you would live. The gelatin itself is perfectly edible, so yeah, lost in the woods with your slug-on-a-stick, probably tastier than the live ones. No sugar or flavorings though. Bring your own salt.

It looks fragile. While the thinnest parts are indeed fragile, the thicker stuff is harder than nails. This is why people eat gelatin for stronger fingernails and hair. It is very hard to break, much more durable than say, glass, if you drop it. Plus, if it does break, it can be glued back together with molten gelatin, or sometimes just by getting the parts wet and pressing them back together. It is permanent although water will still melt it. I have ten-year-old Jell-O Art that looks new, or would if it were dusted.

What’s so great about it? It has a randomness that is just amazing, as it curls itself up and shapes itself while drying. It is practically weightless, so wearing it on your head it really easy and spectacular. It looks outrageous in sunlight. It’s something you never saw before! You need new brain pathways just to integrate the possibilities.

How do you make it? I tell all my secrets on my blog, Gelatinaceae@blogspot.com

Basically I pour it in thin layers, air dry, and then select pieces and glue them together with the gelatin. No other glues, coatings, or enhancers are used. Try it yourself with the Knox brand plain gelatin.

How can I get some? I’ve been selling it at the Saturday Market and Tuesday Market all season. I have a Facebook page under the name Gelatinaceae (https://www.facebook.com/jelloartandmore) and a website at http://www.gelatinaceae.com where I will have things for sale eventually.

My emails are: dmcwho@efn.org and dianemcwho@gmail.com

You can get it at the Holiday Market, weekends until Christmas, space 218 right next to the south side doors. See you there!

P.S. If you make some, bring it and show me.