Collaborative Casting
In a world where digital practice is at the forefront of our thinking, making, and creating, artisan craft practices have seen a decline. Rising costs and accessibility issues have added to the difficulty of practising and learning these processes. Collaborative Casting is a mobile foundry easily transported on a cargo bike. It creates a new way to facilitate casting hot metal with groups of people from all backgrounds. The most valuable tool for the craft community is engaging with each other to share knowledge and insight—the Collaborative Casting foundry provides just that.
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To enhance collaboration, the equipment has been adapted to involve more people in each process, providing an elevated level of trust and equal responsibility. This small workshop gives its participants a sense of connection through a collaborative experience, resulting in kinship and camaraderie.
The Project
This workshop on wheels has been built to fit in the box of a cargo bike, making it easily accessible in urban areas. Cargo bikes have become a significant part of cities for transporting goods and trade skills. Utilising this transport method for a small outdoor workshop is exciting and could open up a range of possibilities. Participants can create open-faced sand moulds, carving and making impressions in the sand with either found objects or their hands, thus establishing an immediate way of working.
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Active participation during workshops involves using tools that have been adapted to emphasise collaboration and create collective movement. The shanks for pouring and the tool for ramming sand have four handles to encourage four people to share the responsibility and experience of prepping and pouring metal together. As the physical action is collaborative, I want the works to be as well.
My experience casting metal isn’t just limited to the traditional lost wax process, but through performative iron casting as well. The feeling of pure trust and togetherness which iron casting yields, has provided me with great friendships and working relationships, ones I think would not have progressed as swiftly if this hot and heavy process weren’t between us. This playful but controlled environment of iron casting has inspired me to think about the way in which action in process can become a more unifying experience even if it is already so. Applying this to an accessible aluminium casting workshop, I want to allow people to experience this level of kinship and camaraderie. Creating a playful group environment, I think could alleviate the intimidating nature that this process can possess.
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I’m at the beginning of this journey, and am excited to see where it can go. The ultimate goal is to start running workshops in safe spaces easily accessible to all and to expand this set up to glass blowing. ​​My aim is to expand its reach across various disciplines, ensuring its growth and sustainability.
