NATIONAL SCULPTURE FACTORY Brings to Cork the wonderful opportunity to engage with Dr Zoe Laughlin Creative Director and Curator of Materials from The Institute of Making, based in University College London. Zoe will conduct a performative lecture and demonstataion on 20th Sept and the following night a series of participatory experiments and interactive workstations will be open to the public live on the factory floor as part of Cork City Culture Night on 21st Sept from 5pm-9pm. The Materials Library is a resource, laboratory, studio, workshop, and play pen for the material minded. A home to some of the most wondrous matter on earth, The Materials Library contains an ongoing collection of material-objects that foreground the materiality of stuff.

The Performativity of Matter Lecture: Thursday 20 Septembre at 8pm

A performative Lecture Dr Zoe Laughlin Live on the Factory Floor at 8pm

Zoe Laughlin is a co-founder/director of the Institute of Making and the Materials Library project. She holds an MA from Central Saint Martin’s College of Art and Design and obtained a PhD in Materials within the Division of Engineering, King’s College London. Working at the interface of the science, art, craft and design of materials, her work ranges from formal experiments with matter, to materials consultancy and large-scale public exhibitions and events with partners including Tate Modern, the Hayward Gallery, the V&A Museum, the Science Museum and the Wellcome Collection.

Workstations (culture night): Friday 21 September 5 – 9pm

Workstations 5:00-9:00pm In Association with Cork City Culture Night on the Factory Floor Dr. Zoe Laughlin will introduce various aspects of materials and making through a series of hands-on workstations looking at art, science, craft and the engineering of stuff. Here’s an opportunity for the general public to actively play with a broad range of materials through a number of different experimentations.

Workstations that you can get involved in:

DIY Silly Putty

The timeless classic playing material of many a child, Silly Putty. A time based material with some extraordinary non-newtonian properties, it is simultaneously both a solid and a liquid, depending up on the energy one applies to it. Roll up your sleeves and get stuck in!

Pewter Casting

This workstation provides a very easy way for people to get hands on with the processes of metal casting and mould making (artists currently working on the Factory floor will be there to expand on casting process’s and materials)

Experimental Carving

Enabling people to carving simple forms from a range of materials including: stone, breeze block, carrot, chocolate, chalk, plaster, wax & soap.

Microscopic analysis

Zoe Laughlin will man this workstation – Through the evening the digital microscope will be available for the examination of materials and objects that are either being used in the other activities or which people have bought to the event for examination. Photos can also be taken with the digital microscope and so documentation of the images can be gathered and even emailed to people there and then. You can also bring materials to be investigated.

Tea & Ceramics

what is it about ceramics that makes the perfect cup to drink tea. We will investigate with a range of

ceramic vestibles, glazed and unglazed how your experince of tea drinking is completely

altered by the material properties. We will have a professional tea taster present who can give their own analysis of the material properties and its effect on the tea tasting experience.

Origami

explore the use of paper to make sculptural shapes and structures with Alex Pentek. Alex will create an origami-themed workspace which will showcase the way simple origami shapes can influence the creation of large scale sculptures and participants can even make their own surprising origami masterpiece.