1. First, you do the mold you will use to cast the concrete. In this case, we will build a wood box made of old kitchen shelfs. Your can also buy a specific boad made for casting purposes but you alway end up finding something on the street (old cabinets, a used shelf or drawer...). T
Build the box with a saw and nails. It does not have to be pretty as the mold will be destroyed after it has been used once.
Then fix the inside corners with silicone. We want to keep the water from the concrete inside the box. The concrete gets pretty watery and can escape through small holes and cracks. To get a nice finish, shoot out the silicone and then run a finger covered with hand - or dishwasher soap through all the corners.

 

2. Choose a pair of jeans. Here the artist chose blue jeans.

 

3. Get your concrete ready. Today we are using pre-mixed concrete. Concrete exists of: cement, sand, gravel and water. The amounts of the different ingredients differ from project to project but we usually us: 1 part cement, 3 parts of sand and 3 parts of gravel. The more water you put into your concrete the weaker it gets. So we want it to be pretty dense. 

 

4. Put concrete in mold and start adding water. Mix thoroughly using a brick trowel or a shovel until all the water is absorbed. You can also use an industrial mixer for this step.

 

5. Once the concrete has reached the right consistency, poor it in the mold in small batches. In between each batch, shake it, vibrate it with a hammer, a stick or a an electrical sander to remove air bubbles. The sander can be very useful when you are working with boxes. You want to loose all the air bubbles so you get a strong concrete without any weaknesses. The form that we are making today is by nature pretty strong and solide.  

 

6. Put in your jeans. Drown them. Maybe you need a rock or something. Vibrate more. You can work with the concrete for about 30 minutes.

 

7. Cover with plastic sheets to keeps the water in the concrete from evaporating to fast. Let it dry nice and slowly for 2-3 days before unmolding. 

 

8. Once the concete is dry, destroy the mold and take out your version of Dip.