Hear the Conservator (y1980-11)

Norman Muller, Conservator at the Princeton University Art Museum, describes the cast concrete process.

The Princeton Public Table is based on an identical example in the sculpture garden at the General Mills Headquarters in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which I visited in September 1998 with the fabricator Lucien Peebles. Preparation for the installation began in November of that year. Using construction drawings of the Minneapolis example, a plywood form was made for the flat circular base, which surrounds a steel central post. Concentric rings of steel reinforcing rods with lateral crossbars were attached to this post, much like an internal armature, to strengthen the concrete as it dried. Once the concrete was poured, the base was left to dry for two weeks. This process, known as curing, allows the concrete to dry at a slow rate so that it hardens successfully. If it dries too quickly, cracks form and the piece would eventually fall apart. After the concrete was successfully cured, the top inverted plywood cone was attached. Again, concrete was poured into the form and allowed to cure for an additional two weeks. The plywood forms were then removed and the surfaces were polished and a polymer compound applied to prevent water from soaking into the concrete, where it can do damage either by freezing or by corroding the reinforcing steel in the slab.