Question 1

At 0:18 the speaker says "...they worked for more than a year meticulously chasing the sterling silver..."

What does "chasing" mean in this context? Is it a silversmiths industry jargon?

Accepted Answer

It's a metalworking term.  Instead of carving and removing material,  the metal is indented with a hammer and tools.     
Chasing means pushing metal from the front.  the opposite is repousse, which pushes or indents from the back.

Question 2

If coating the mold with graphite makes the surface conduct electricity, does this mean that pencils also conduct electricity?

Accepted Answer

Yes, but it depends on the composition of the graphite in the pencil and the magnitude of the electrical potential/voltage/field. Most of everything can conduct electricity if you apply a moderate electric field across it, including the human body. Everything has an electrical conductivity (or resistivity) which measures how well it will conduct electricity. Iron bars have high conductivity (low resistivity), so iron conducts electricity very well, while rubber has low conductivity (high resistivity), and so does not conduct electricity very well or hardly at all. That is why some some materials like iron are generally called conductors, while some materials such as rubber are generally called insulators. However, if you apply an extremely high electrical field to anything, it may conduct because everything is composed of electrons and protons, and there are no perfect insulators. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_resistivity_and_conductivity

Question 3

What is electrical science? What are some other innovations that were brought forth by the advancement of electrical science?

Accepted Answer

Your using the Internet right now to view this video and my comment and to type your original question are examples of such innovations.

Question 4

What are you doing when you oxidize an object?

Accepted Answer

When oxidizing an object, you bind oxygen atoms to it, making it a slightly different material. Pure iron looks kind of gray, but when the surface oxides due to exposure to the oxygen in air or other sources of oxygen, a layer of iron oxide forms on the surface of the pure iron, and that layer of iron oxide is reddish or brown and we generally call it "rust". You may want to oxidize an object to coat it with iron oxide overall, which prevents further oxidation/rusting  and especially prevents irregular or spotty rusting due to exposure to air which would ruin the appearance.

Question 5

When the molds are coated with copper, where does the copper come from? The copper plate? If so, does the copper plate get smaller?

Accepted Answer

Yes, the copper comes from the copper plate, and the copper plate gets smaller.

Course: Special topics in art history > Unit 2

An Art of Attraction: The Electrotyping Process

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