Last week, I was in Birmingham, Alabama, for the National Conference on Contemporary Cast Iron Art & Practices (NCCCIAP). The backdrop for this biennial event was Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark, a truly a remarkable venue that stands out as America’s only blast furnace from the last century being preserved and interpreted as an historic industrial site. There was a great slate of activities for the NCCCIAP, including hands-on demonstrations, mold making workshops, student cupola competitions, guest furnace demonstrations, panel discussions, and art exhibitions. The grassroots, intergenerational character of the NCCCIAP was incredibly inspiring, and I hope to get back to Sloss for the next iteration of this event.
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- Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark
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- Visitor’s center at Sloss
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- Flurry of activity in Casting Shed #2
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- Large production furnace in Casting Shed #2
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- “Wakey Wakey” by MESH Collective Art
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- This performance by Joe McCreary, Healther Spencer Holmes, Micheal Bonadio, and Holly Reese, featured a feast cooked on a giant cast iron skillet
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- Giant skillet = equally giant spatula
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- Sand mold fabrication in the casting shed
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- Aaran Schmidt working on a large mold
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- Kurt Dyrhaug and Jeremy Entwistle setting up the Texas Atomic Iron Commission’s guest furnace
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- Apollo 11 guest furnace
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- Charlie Scott, Ed Parrish Jr., and Jeremy Entwistle look on while the furnace goes under blast
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- Charlie Scott and Kurt Dyrhaug
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- Kurt tapping the furnace
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- Charlie skimming while the pour team fills molds
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- Charlie skimming while the pour team fills molds
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- Charlie skimming while the pour team fills molds
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- Texas Atomic Iron Commission pour crew
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- “Women at Work” performance by Lisa Evans
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- This performance piece dealt with gender roles , domestication, and stereotypes
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- Participants pouring molten iron into a running washing machine
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- “The Digital Impact,” a panel discussion chaired by Teresa Lind, featuring McArthur Freeman, Frankie Flood, Mary Neubauer, and Ken Payne
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- Keynote address by Jack Gron
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- Curated Professional Exhibition in the Sloss Visitor’s Center, featuring works from the expanding cast iron community
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- Jack Gron, “Surfin’ Outta Sparkle City”
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- Allen Peterson, “Let’s All Be Beekeepers When We Grow Up”
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- My sculpture “Nothing Happened #1”
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- Kurt Dyrhaug, “Tonka 52”
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- Michael “Bones” Bonadio, “Monkey in the Middle”
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- Adam Bodine, “What You Say”
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- Keith Kaziak, “The Mighty Samson (isolated as Sylvester)”
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- Nicole Bovasso, “Caedite, Vexate, Ligate Vinculis”
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- Tanner Hoffman, “Liminality”
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- Aaran Schmidt, “Untitled”
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- Joel Weissman, “Lasciate ogni speranza voi ch’entrant (abandon all hope)”
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- Christyn L. Overstake, “#63.4/9/2016: 38.0406 N, 84.5037 W. Two Four”
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- Jeremy Entwistle, “Weighting”
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- Tobias Flores, “We Built This Country With Hammers and Boob Sweat”
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- Robbie Barber, “Ferox”
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- Scott Marini, “Home of The Brave Series IV”
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- Steven Torres, “All American Anchor”
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- Michael Louis LeBlanc, “Key to My Heart/Whitney Polich”
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- Luke Sides, “Cupcake”
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- Ben Woodeson, “Run don’t walk…”
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- This sculpture was part of the Juried Exhibition at the University of Alabama Birmingham’s Project Space Gallery
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- Kelly Wilton, “Pile (Variation)”
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- David Fricke, “An Implement of Social Cultivation”
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- Erin Cunningham, “Knee”
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- Cassidy Frye, “Won’t Let You Leave”
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- Delany Bal, University of Kentucky, “Blood on the Risers”
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- This sculpture was part of the Curated Student Exhibition at Space One Eleven, a non-profit gallery in downtown Birmingham
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- Alex Townsend, University of Southern Mississippi, “The Pieces That Hold Us Together”
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- Jennifer Allen, University of Alabama at Birmingham, “Level Headed”
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- Curtis Turner, MassArt, “Self-portrait”
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- Payton Reedy, University of Southern Mississippi, “Cycle”
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- Christen Parker, University of Mississippi, “Two Headed Boy”
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- View of Sloss’s iconic skyline
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- Beautiful abandoned excavator in the Sloss landscape
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- Detail view of excavator bucket
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- Sculptures such as this dot the landscape at Sloss
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- Old casting ladles outside the Visitor’s Center
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- Side view of Casting Shed #2
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- View from the Furnace Apron
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- Large tuyeres for the blast furnace
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- View from the Blowing Engine Room
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- Wood patterns in the engine room
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- Scenes from the engine room
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- Largest wrench ever in the engine room
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- Amazing rust patterns on the machinery
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- Didactics outlining history of iron production at Sloss
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- Ladle car for transporting molten iron
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- Old tools in Casting Shed #1
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- Amazing murals from Sloss’s heyday under the Eastern Viaduct of the highway
Dylan Ethan Collins 