/2014/
Iron Dust and Magnets
Dimension: variable size
I was intrigued by the idea of bringing a metaphysical entity into the world. Of course, it is an impossible task and an inappropriate one from a philosophical perspective. And yet, in pursuing an impossible target, many unexpected things can be found on the way.
![](https://www.giovannicasu.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/greys_1.jpg)
And the chances of finding something interesting are particularly high. In searching for a color which which would match this concept in the most intuitive way, I found in the Middle Grey Card* the most appropriate shade. It is less heavy and symbolic than pure black and less boring than (holy) gold or white. With a bit of patience, it was not too difficult to obtain this kind of grey with acrylics, still I had the impression that I could get closer to my goal if only I obtained an extremely mat surface. In the meantime I used the Middle Grey shade for the Greys-painting, and it was quite satisfying considering my impossible target. While looking for pigments I found a grey powder on E-bay, basically pure iron, which surprisingly and completely corresponded to Middle Grey. I could not underestimate such alchemical coincidence, so I started to work on it. How could I get a super mat surface? Mainly by avoiding any acrylic base or any sticky material that would easily become glossy or reduce the mat aspect of the pure pigment. I thought I could solve the problem with a magnetic sticker (like the ones you stick to your fridge). In practice, however, the magnetic sticker was not strong enough to attract the powder and create a really mat surface, and the texture thus obtained made quite a poor impression. I thus explored the potential of combining iron powder and magnet. I realized later that this kind of grey is the color used for 3D modeling and digital images that try to represent, build or describe pure form.
![](https://www.giovannicasu.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/greys_2-665x1024.jpg)
*A gray card is a middle gray reference, typically used together with a reflective light meter, as a way to produce consistent image exposure and/or color in film and photography. A gray card is a flat object of a neutral gray color that derives from a flat reflectance spectrum. A typical example is the Kodak R-27 set, which contains two 8×10″ cards and one 4×5″ card which have 18% reflectance across the visible spectrum, and a white reverse side which has 90% reflectance. Note that flat spectral reflectance is a stronger condition than simply appearing neutral; this flatness ensures that the card appears neutral under any illuminant (see metamerism).