The exploration of etching techniques became a large part of my individual practice, so creating this kind of chemical reaction outside of a professional setting was a logical choice for one of our workshops. To be able to combine etching with cheap everyday materials (as we are only students with limited funds) meant a lot of deliberation was involved. In the end I came up with the idea of using Coca Cola as the main etching ‘acid’. Thus after researching similar etching processes I came across a website that provided a step by step guide with a clear (and perfect) outcome. Though this workshop failed we managed to print some interesting designs that corresponded with the flowing ink designs of the snake skin workshop.
The website provided the guidelines which helped prepare us for this etching workshop – https://dmacanvas.com/2014/05/13/make-this-etching-with-cola/
As these were only testers, I decided to decrease the size of the etch, which was fortunate due to the lack of image ideas on these small pieces.
Realistically, after attaining more knowledge of this industrialised technique, I would keep the etches in the Coke for longer than the allotted 10 minute as unfortunately we were unable to really see a clear image even when we applied the ink to our designs. Yet the corrosive nature of fizzy drinks was present as in some places there were slight indents.
Overall the premise of this workshop was clear and with a little bit of tweaking could demonstrate how fun combining art and science can be – whilst also highlighting how corrosive fizzy drinks are! Using the consumer products meant that arguably it could simplify scientific or artistic techniques for domestic settings.