Copper Soup and Other Dietary Concerns

I'm just going to go ahead and jump into this one...
So about a month ago I found out about this up coming art exposition in Liberia (Costa Rica). The show is tentatively scheduled for September 2011 and the theme is "gastronomy". At first I wasn't sure what to make of the theme, but I knew I wanted to participate in the show, fortunately after reading a little more about the exposition, I have come to find that it is very open ended, as far as how you choose to approach the theme. I love it when themes are open ended as it allows the mind to run free and wild.
As I am constantly expanding on "Monetary Bondage", I thought of a hundred different ways to be able to argue the relationship between "food" and money using the pieces I already have made. However, I also wanted to try and come up with something just for the show that could some how speak more directly to the relationship between "food" and money. I feel that the relationship between food and money is very clear in today's "modern world". Generally speaking, if you don't have money you are not going to eat well or at all. Not to mention that money and concerns over it can manifest in many physical ways often affecting peoples' digestive processes and general health. Having my train of thoughts travel along this sort of path I began thinking of what people tend to do when money is causing them physical discomfort and this is where I ended up...

"Money-Ache", 2011, Daniel Icaza, 1964 Kennedy Half Dollars, Fine Silver, Alka-Seltzer 

"Money Ache" is the current body of work I have begun to work on. Sort of a related off shoot to "monetary Bondage", these coin lockets where designed to house an Alka-Seltzer to directly address the complex relationships between physical well being, nutrition and money.
In the end, I feel a little overwhelmed with the amount of ways one can interpret and consider the complex relationships between food and money. Personally I always end up viewing it as a vicious cycle, thinking about money can make you physically ill and yet you need money to buy food and medicine to improve your overall health and well being... So money makes you sick, but it can make you better as well... It ended up a bit too ironic and dark for my taste but I hope everyone can come away with something from this. I just want throw in a quick thank you to my girlfriend Kaylee for coming up with the name "Money Ache" as it seems to fit the concept so perfectly. If you would like to know more about Kaylee and her art please follow this link.... CLICK HERE...   

"Money-Ache", 2011, Daniel Icaza, 2000 One-Hundred Colones, Fine Silver, Brass, Alka-Seltzer 

These are the first two lockets to be completed, I still need to fabricate the chains that will be attached to the lockets; I got pretty excited to see them get this far so I figured I would share the progress for now. All this talk of money and food has made me hungry for another interesting topic I would like to share with you...

"Copper Soup"

Lying at the bottom of this murky solution are the two newest additions to "Monetary Bondage". This "copper soup" is what my current etch solution has turned into, its really creepy and kind of gross looking, yet has a strange beauty and allure all its own. I'm not certain what or why this is happening, but the solution is still etching the plates so we shall see what the result is when they come out.

Agitating the soup a bit...

As far as I can tell or interpret rather, the solution has become so saturated with copper that the surface has actually begun to "patina" with the air, up close it looks just like a beautiful patina or a neglected penny. If any one actually knows what is happening here I would love to know. The solution has been used quite a bit and is a homemade etch solution of muriatic (hydrochloric) acid and hydrogen peroxide.

A little more agitation and the effects became truly amazing...

As the etch solution is agitated, one can clearly see the usual color of this solution (a very bright to dark almost black green) I have always observed the color of this solution change but this is the first time this pale green color has appeared to accumulate over the surface of the etch bath.

Back to normal??? 

After enough agitation, the color of the solution returned to a relatively normal hue and appearance, but it doesn't take a whole lot of time for the soup to start building up its surface skin again... ew gross...soup skin... And thats my copper soup story, I hope you liked it, I'll be sure to write a follow up on how the etch turned out and what ends up happening to this stew... As well as any new lockets, chains and other interesting happenings. Thanks for reading and I hope you come back to check out the next post.
Peace and Love.