Before moving out to Davis, I use to watch this show on the Ovation channel called Designer People. It featured designers from all over the world, talking about their emphasis of design, how they started, the obstacles they've faced, and what they're up to now. Of course they would also include how much they love design, where they feel design is going, and all that juicy stuff we all want to hear more about (Direct TV had the channel; I'm not entirely sure Comcast or AT&T U-Verse support Ovation). In one of their episodes, they featured a San Francisco native artist that goes by the name Liz Hickok. In a project done in 2007, Hickok didn't chose a medium that was commonly found in an artists bag of art supplies. She found her medium in whatever isle Jell-O is on.
She doesn't only create the architectural elements of San Francisco to scale but also the unique landscapes that the city is built upon. Using molds she carves by hand, she fills them up with various colors (and flavors) of Jell-O and waits for the magic to happen; which usually takes an hour and a half or so for it to become firm. The reason why she chose jello as her medium is because, when illuminated from underneath, the buildings become a three dimensional mosaic, potentially representing rare jewels in the form of the city of San Francisco. According to Hickok, the Jell-O doesn't have a shelf life as long as usual sculptures or paintings, which gives her pieces some sort of life when mold begins to grow upon it.The curvature of most of the Jell-O buildings add an interesting effect since we're not use to seeing unstable buildings; I'm sure its against some building and safety codes. The use of color truly adds character to the Jell- O city which you can possibly connect to what kind of city San Francisco is – a highly flamboyant and groovy place to be.
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