Growing Crystals at College: Day 2

More crystal growth progress!

This project was produced for the BA Fine Arts unit, Art Project.

The copper sulfate crystals below are photographed at two days old. 

I expanded the growing setup from the first day. I found some ceramic saucers and glass ash trays in the op shop for fifty cents each and decided to start farming seed crystals with them.

The main task of the day was to refresh the copper sulfate mixture in each tray.  

Closeup of the new glass ash trays. I set some seed crystals from the plastic plates into each bowl to promote crystal growth.

The balsa to the top left was removed from the copper sulfate solution as a physical growth record. 

Balsa wood soaked in copper sulfate solution. 

Detail view of the removed copper sulfate soaked balsa wood. 

Detail view of copper sulfate soaked balsa wood. Two pieces were isolated into glass jars to promote stronger crystal growth. 

Seeded copper sulfate solution in a glass. 

The copper sulfate solution had begun to grow out beneath the cockroach. 

Ceramic plate with copper sulfate solution- no seed crystal. 

Ceramic plate with copper sulfate solution- small, flat seed crystal. 

Ceramic plate with copper sulfate solution- larger, flat seed crystal. 

Ceramic plate with copper sulfate solution- loose cluster of seed crystals.

Ceramic plate with copper sulfate solution- bonded cluster seed crystal. 

Copper sulfate crystal growth progress of the plastic plates. 

Copper sulfate solution only- small, scattered seed crystals have grown. 

Copper sulfate solution with fibre glass- small, scattered seed crystals have grown, but have formed predominantly on the fibre glass. 

Detail view of the edge of the crystal covered fibre glass. 

Detail view of a plastic plate, filled with copper sulfate solution only. I clustered the seed crystals together to see if they would, in the coming days, bond together into a single, larger crystal. 

Growing Crystals at College: Day 1

Get ready for a long series of posts!

Here begins some of the process documentation I had to provide during my exam for Art Project last semester at university. Each day of copper sulfate crystal growth will be separate from the next because there are heaps of photos to show. The entire collection had to be bound into two separate books for my presentation, disregarding the extra book for the crystals grown at home. 

I 'declared' the ME Theater balcony as my new work space with a warning sign (safety first) and established a set up to grow my copper sulfate crystals. 

A sample of the first tests I grew at home using copper sulfate. These have been varnished and left to dry on the balcony (varnish fumes aren't nice). 

Balsa wood soaked in a copper sulfate solution. 

Detail view of the copper sulfate soaked balsa. 

Four glasses with copper sulfate solution. 

Cockroaches, especially dead ones, are very common in my college's suburb. It was an opportunity to test whether copper sulfate would grown on organic matter. 

Three plastic plates, found abandoned in a kitchenette. 

Fibre glass was tested as a frame for the copper sulfate crystals to grow on. 

Sketchbook 009: AP shape studies