Piedras volcánicas, materia para la creación de esculturas

Abstract

A brief summary is presented of the approach and conclusions of a Project financed by the Regional Government of the Canary Islands, which considers, from a general viewpoint, the validity of sculpture in stone and the suitability of volcanic rock to the aesthetic approaches of today. On a more specific level, this article confirms information of an interdisciplinary nature on the genesis, structure and use of lava, ignimbrite, fonolite and trachyte and classifies thirty samples from Tenerife and Gran Canaria, indicating their characteristics, common use and resistance to different destructive agents, assessing their possibilities of application for sculptural purposes, and advancing in their behaviour under the application of usual sculptural techniques and procedures. A basis is thus set on which to establish more specific approaches, to be developed both on a basic research level and by artistic practice.