This paper aims to present concrete through an experimental approach and argues about its creative use.
Its basic qualities and principles are touched by different ways,3 of which have been developed by architects and 2 by sculptors.
Concrete is investigated through its position in the Modern movement, its appeal to the senses, its new form and five concrete objects, which constitute the five pieces of its puzzle.
All though it is such a strong material in compression, its basic elements are simple, natural, raw materials: sand, crussed brick, cement, water and it can be made to the following recipe:
3 tea cups of sand and pebbles,2 tea cups of cement and one tea cup of water.
As simple, as a cooking recipe, this exemplifies its unique existence.
The objective is to compare the different ways concrete is used.
Architects use concrete to blow life into their designs.
Paradoxically they fully exploit its extensive sculptural qualities, its originality in shapes and texture.
They experience with its visual performance, enrich it with new incredible qualities by mixing it with optical fibers and chemical compounds.
Sculptures, on the other hand, use it as a working material all though it is not wildly considered one of their principle materials.
They also experiment with concrete by putting aside its plastic qualities and focusing on its structure and strength.
Through experiment, an amusing conclusion was reached.
All though it was expected that sculptures create shapes their experiments showed quite the opposite.
Different thoughts and considerations derive from this contradiction, noticed in the different types of art that exploit concrete.
During this experiment I was induced to acquire my own personal experience and form my own opinion, to get involved into a physical process and built my own forms, in which I have replaced one of the ingredients with some unrelated material.
Observation was the objective. The outcome is a photographic representation of all the changes in quality, texture, visual stimuli and showed that concrete exhibits as a creative material.
