The Tao of Salamander Demolding
(Now there's a blog post title for ya!) We've been trying to make a nice copy of this here salamander. These are copies in ceramic and pewter I made a few years ago.
But whenever we tried to make new clay copies, it kept breaking when being demolded.
We figured one of the molds was no good, so we discarded it and used the other one. But that never worked either. I tried a much more flexible mold material (Po-Yo Putty) and figured that would solve the problem, but still it didn't work.
In hindsight I probably pressed the mold material around the legs of the critter too tightly, making it very narrow. But still, it shouldn't be so complicated - it's a simple little object.
I then figured we needed to use a release agent, some vegetable oil in the mold. We never needed to do that before but surely that would solve our salamandrical problems.
Nope.
So by this point, it was becoming personal. I had done this before, thousands of Siloists working around the world in the Craft of Fire had done it before; why could we not make a good salamander?
Now there are a few phrases of the Tao Te Ching that stick with me and I recall them from time to time. One is about how water is weak but overcomes the hardest things; another is that things that are alive and vital are fresh and bending, and things that are close to death are hard and brittle. Or something like that.
Or in fact, according to one translation, like this:
I don't remember what came first - if I had this thought in my head and then I thought about the salamander, or if I was thinking about the salamander problem and then this came to me. But in any case, the two came together in a flash of inspiration and the solution appeared:
Don't wait until the salamander dries in the mold and becomes "stiff and unyielding" (and a companion of death). Take it out when it is still soft and supple!
And lo, it worked!
This phenomenon, which doubtless we've all experienced, was described by Silo in his fantastic Psychology Notes, IV;
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But whenever we tried to make new clay copies, it kept breaking when being demolded.
We figured one of the molds was no good, so we discarded it and used the other one. But that never worked either. I tried a much more flexible mold material (Po-Yo Putty) and figured that would solve the problem, but still it didn't work.
In hindsight I probably pressed the mold material around the legs of the critter too tightly, making it very narrow. But still, it shouldn't be so complicated - it's a simple little object.
I then figured we needed to use a release agent, some vegetable oil in the mold. We never needed to do that before but surely that would solve our salamandrical problems.
Nope.
So by this point, it was becoming personal. I had done this before, thousands of Siloists working around the world in the Craft of Fire had done it before; why could we not make a good salamander?
Now there are a few phrases of the Tao Te Ching that stick with me and I recall them from time to time. One is about how water is weak but overcomes the hardest things; another is that things that are alive and vital are fresh and bending, and things that are close to death are hard and brittle. Or something like that.
Or in fact, according to one translation, like this:
"So the soft and supple
are the companions of life.
While the stiff and unyielding
are the companions of death."
I don't remember what came first - if I had this thought in my head and then I thought about the salamander, or if I was thinking about the salamander problem and then this came to me. But in any case, the two came together in a flash of inspiration and the solution appeared:
Don't wait until the salamander dries in the mold and becomes "stiff and unyielding" (and a companion of death). Take it out when it is still soft and supple!
And lo, it worked!
This phenomenon, which doubtless we've all experienced, was described by Silo in his fantastic Psychology Notes, IV;
"We have mentioned the structures of consciousness that we call 'inspired consciousness' and we have demonstrated their presence in the vast regions of philosophy, science, art and the mystic. But inspired consciousness acts frequently in everyday life; in intuitions, vigilic inspirations, semisleep and paradoxical sleep. 'Hunches,' falling in love, the sudden comprehension of complex situations and the instantaneous resolution of problems that troubled the subject for a long time are examples of inspiration in daily life."So I'll need to clean up the little guy a bit but this should fire up very nicely in the mud oven.
As soon as the snow melts, that is.
That mound back there by the garage? That's the mud oven.
"The ancient masters were subtle, mysterious, profound, responsive.
The depth of their knowledge is unfathomable.
Because it is unfathomable,
All we can do is describe their appearance.
Watchful, like men crossing a winter stream.
Alert, like men aware of danger.
Courteous, like visiting guests.
Yielding, like ice about to melt.
Simple, like uncarved blocks of wood.
Hollow, like caves.
Opaque, likemuddy pools mud ovens."
Because it is unfathomable,
All we can do is describe their appearance.
Watchful, like men crossing a winter stream.
Alert, like men aware of danger.
Courteous, like visiting guests.
Yielding, like ice about to melt.
Simple, like uncarved blocks of wood.
Hollow, like caves.
Opaque, like
- Tao Te Ching
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