Over the weekend I was walking along an isolated beach that I spent a lot of my childhood playing around. I noticed lots of bricks that had been washed up on the shore and I was fascinated by the different stages of disintegration the bricks where. I picked up as much as I could carry and brought them back to the studio.
possible title for work so far: ‘some wash more than others’ (?)
I was quite interested in the possibility of polishing the bricks to a high gloss, so that it would be transformed from mundane and now functionless to a precious state, in the same way that some stones that are washed up on beaches are used. I also thought that I would be continuing what the sea had started by continuing to polish the bricks. The sea is like one large Tumble machine – smoothing out jagged edges and sharp points over time.
I was also inspired the the artist Alicja Kwade, where she cut and polished worthless beach pebbles into ‘diamonds’ 
I decided to experiment on one of the bricks. Being as impulsive as I am, I vaguely googled how I would do it, found similar items to use from what I already had, and got stuck in. I used various grades of sand paper, candle wax, dish scrubber, backs of spoons, and a 4-step buff and polish for your nails. nails….queue next idea; use a clear top coat nail polish to achieve the high gloss that I so desired.
the only ‘clear’ top coat nail polish that I owned?
‘Vampire Vanity’
As of yet I’m undecided on how bad it is, I will have to get it back to the studio tomorrow and compare it to the other bricks…
