Ellia Hamabuchi

• 
• 
• 

History always repeats itself. An unintentional cycle, the idea of preserving the present and the past for the sake of the future has always been valued by mankind. A constitution, a battle, an event that changes how the future will live. At what point does an event go from “breaking news,” to a simple page in a history textbook? “Old News” highlights the January 6th insurrection on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., and the atmosphere that surrounds the current political and economic climate of the financial divide of American Society. Creating this piece required a lot of preparation, starting with blocking out each section of the steel to maintain the organized and information-efficient manner that newspapers present. My piece also required a lot of research in terms of the type of metal and concentrations of solution to create rust. An uncoated steel plate would have the ability to rust quickly, however, zinc or aluminum would not rust as fast/at all, leading to my usage of a 16 x 48 steel plate which I cut into two. To simulate organized rust, I used a brush to paint with a solution of hydrogen peroxide, vinegar, and iodized salt. Using graphite transfer paper, I recreated the major headlines on the steel plate to trace with gold and rust. I then traced each major text block with the acidic solution and each major headline with gold leaf adhesive and imitation gold leaf, getting precise details with a small brush. For the main image of the headline newspaper, I assigned the values of the original image with black or white values, tracing with graphite paper and painting the assigned black areas with rust. Thank you Diana, and thank you to my Sustainable Systems professor Clarinda MacLow helping me with the rust solution!