Tessellated Mosaic at Fillmore Central High School -- A Collaborative Project with Karl Unnasch

Tessellated Mosaic Workshop

Special thanks go out to:

· Jason Detert

· Carrie Mathison

· NRB Metals, St. Charles, MN

· The Staff and Students at Fillmore Central High School

· Michael Cimino

· Suzy Slater

Press:

Local Artist doing what he loves, Fillmore County Journal, Sep. 30, 2011

Fillmore Central art students visit foundry, Fillmore County Journal, Jun. 5, 2009

This ongoing project for Fillmore Central High School in Harmony, Minnesota began in 2009 and continues to grow and evolve.

Karl’s initial design consisted of an expandable tessellated (set mosaic) pattern; within this, each student creates a cast iron tile bearing their own unique design.

The project not only teaches students about mold-making and metal-casting processes through first-hand experience, but becomes a permanent and very personalized public artwork on the walls of the school.

Karl and the Art Class Instructors install the finished work during off-hours with the help of student volunteers.

Students scratch designs/patterns/imagery into one surface of each sand core.

The cores are inserted into master molds providing the surface pattern for the tiles.

Molten iron is poured into the molds; the resulting castings retain a reverse relief pattern of the students’ crafted designs.

Once cooled, the castings are removed from the molds. Then, excess metal (called ‘returns’) is cut or ground off, the tiles are shot-blasted, and mounting holes are drilled into each.

The semi-finished castings are returned to the art class for re-distribution to their respective students. Stove black is applied by the students to the surface of the metal as one would apply shoe polish. The excess polish is rubbed off and the plates are allowed to set and dry for 24 hours.

Seal coating is applied to preserve the patina created by the students. The tiles are allowed to set and dry for 24 hours once again.

The finished tiles are installed with concrete fasteners on a stairwell wall next to the auditorium in the students’ school.

Karl designed and constructed a set of multiple piece core patterns for the original overall layout. Each year, he produces sand cores from these patterns for the mold-making process and delivers them to the Art classes. Individual sand cores are distributed to each participating student. Under Karl’s instruction, students then scratch their own designs into each core.

The cores are then delivered by Karl to the NRB Metals foundry, where he makes receiving molds into which the cores will be inserted.

Each tile is a casting of the artwork of each student who takes part in the project.

Many students choose to design a graphically rendered text for their tile.

Some years, students take a field trip to the foundry to witness the process first-hand — from a safe distance.

A Growing Legacy

An expanding iron tile mosaic created via a series of workshops

for and with Fillmore Central High School Students and Staff,

in Harmony, Minnesota

Ongoing since 2009