my kintSUgi / kintSUkUROi pRActiceS02。金継ぎ／金繕い，練習（二）。

After asking bakers and pâtissiers, I bought three - very high-gluten, bread, and cake flours for my kintsugi / kintsukuroi practices, for the reason of different texture and water-absorbency.

在練習（一）裡提到過，在問過糕點師傅們之後，我買了日本的特高筋、高筋、低筋三種粉進行實驗。不同筋度的麵粉吸水性不同，麵糊／麵糰的質地、黏性也都不一樣；另外，也許這聽起來偏執了些，但我是認真地認為麵粉的顆粒越小的越好（日本製的麵粉顆粒最小），越能細柔地填滿每一絲縫隙。

For the proportion of the flour and water, I thought that it doesn't have to be 1:1 (as in the DIY video) as long as the paste has a good texture (then makes a good mixture with lacquer), but I think that I was wrong: the mixture was getting weak after a period of time as it has lost the elasticity and became watery; as a result, the mixture couldn't hold the broken pieces nicely (I believe it's not only the lacquer to join the pieces together but also the flour - at beginning). So I go back to the proportion of the flour and water again.

關於麵粉：水的比例，在練習（一）裡的幾次實驗都是以1：1的比例調製，粗略得到了「粉與水的比例不是那麼重要／加水的速度與攪拌才是重點」的心得；然而，在修復過程中，放置一段時間的麵糊筋度會開始消退（好像是因為澱粉老化造成的？），導致黏著劑的黏合力減弱（直覺認為在修復的時候並非完全是以生漆黏合，麵粉的黏性也略有影響），於是我想：也許影片中使用粉：水＝1：1的比例是有其道理的，否則應該不必特別註明比例，只要說明麵糊的濃稠度就可以了？

The result was good. The 1:1 paste made a much better mixture as the texture stayed in a good condition even after a period of time (and until I finished it), neither became watery nor too dry.

因此我又回到粉：水這個步驟，以與麵粉等量的水，一滴滴加入、攪拌成適當的濃稠度，再加入生漆調製黏著劑。幾次的實驗結果都是相同的：以粉：水＝1：1調製的黏著劑即使放置、使用經過一段時間，依然維持著濕度、黏度適當的狀態（直到使用完畢）。

關於筋度。越高筋的麵粉吸水性與黏性都比較強，質地略粗，乾得也比較快（麵糊階段）；低筋麵粉的吸水性略弱，質地細緻，乾燥速度也比較慢。以等量的水調製麵糊的時候，低筋麵粉要以特別慢的速度加水，否則比起特高筋與高筋，不小心一次加太多水的結果⋯⋯洗掉重來會比較快（特高筋與高筋麵粉，多攪拌幾次就救回來了）。

Last but not least, the differences between the three flours are:

Very high-gluten flour: water-absorbency is high, therefore it dries fast, and the paste has a rough texture;
Bread flour: water-absorbency is medium and dries slower than very high-gluten flour; the texture of the paste is medium too.
Cake flour: water-absorbency is low, therefore it dries (very) slow, and the paste texture is fine / smooth.

當初會買三種筋度的麵粉⋯⋯其實只是好奇心＋強迫症的性格使然，想知道 每 一 種 結 果⋯⋯。在實際使用上的差別並不大，關鍵點還是麵糊的狀態；不過個人習慣是會搭配天氣濕度使用⋯⋯持續實驗ing（說不定根本沒差別）。

It's not too different either using very high-gluten, bread, or cake flour to make the mixture as long as the paste texture is good. I am using all of them depending on the weather though. Experiment continues.

my kintSUgi / kintSUkUROi pRActiceS01。金継ぎ／金繕い，練習（一）。

I have fallen in love with kintsugi (golden joinery) / kintsukuroi (golden repair) for a while, not only because of the idea of wabi-sabi, but also behind this, I see the concept of 'respect' - well, it might not be very precise, but it is the closest word to my thoughts.

不記得是什麼時候對金繼／金繕開始有興趣，只是漸漸察覺，每次看見那些「線條」，就感到⋯⋯很放鬆，彷彿被帶進另一個空間；更進一步，開始對「修復」這件事情感興趣；再退一步看它，除了殘留缺．美，是「惜物」的概念讓我著迷。

Recently I have found a short video that showing the kintsukuroi  / kintsugi techniques. It looks not too difficult, so I start doing research and studying it myself. Firstly, I have to get the ingredients for the 'glue'.

前陣子在網路上看見一段金繼／金繕DIY的影片，決定自己先來研究一下。整段影片都是日文說明（文字），沒有中文翻譯；不過示範得很詳細，不難理解。以漢字的線索，可以得知影片中的修復者所使用的黏著材料之一是麵粉。

但是使用哪一種麵粉呢？問了糕點師傅們的意見，我買了日本的特高筋、高筋、低筋三種粉，進行實驗。

I bought three flours with different gluten content: very high-gluten flour, bread flour, and cake flour. See the thickness experiments (basic, flour and water only) below:

cake flour

低筋

bread flour

高筋

very high-gluten flour

特高筋

第一次的實驗，麵粉：水的比例都是1：1。很明顯地，以等量的水調低筋麵粉會太稀，完全無法當黏著劑使用；高筋麵粉也是，不夠OK；只有特高筋勉......強......稠一些。

The proportion of the flour and water is 1:1 (for all three flours), but it is too much for cake flour and bread flour, and still thin for very high-gluten flour. To have the best result, the crucial point is to add water slowly, bit by bit until it reaches the appropriate texture; in addition, flour with higher gluten content absorbs more (and quicker) water than lower one, therefore I would wash away a NG texture and redo a new one if I was using low-gluten flour, whereas if I was using a higher one, I would add more flour (bit by bit) to fix it up. Higher is easier.

以粉：水是1：1的比例為基準，經過幾次的實驗與推翻發現，其實粉與水的比例不是那麼重要（當然也不能太離譜），因為重點在於加水的速度與攪拌。不過筋度高的麵粉吸水性比較好，所以如果一開始不小心加了略多的水，越高筋的麵粉比較不受影響，也比較容易救；筋度低的不是不能救，但是洗掉重來會比較快。當然，如果真的加太多了，無論是哪一種麵粉，還是洗掉重新調吧。

有機會也試一下糯米粉。

Under the Mt. Teapot。茶壺山下。

Under the mountain. Cats. JinGuaShi.

Under the mountain, there are cats in JinGuaShi.

Under the mountain, there are cats and JinGuaShi. Under the Mt. Teapot.

茶壺山下。貓。金瓜石。

在祈堂路176號。

Wearable ceramics workshop。陶瓷首飾工作營。

2013 February, at 冶器金屬物件工作室, Taipei City, Taiwan.

Ring, broken。耳．環。

Filigree workshop 頭一遭。

前陣子參加了學學文創志業的「苗族銀飾創作交流工作坊」，請到的是中國貴州苗族的潘俊忠師傅，示範絲線細工的技法。

I went to a metalsmith workshop and joined Mr. Pan's Miao style silver jewellery course last week, and I immediately fell in love with the filigree of Miao's bronze drum pattern. Mr. Pan is from GuiZhou, China, who has been working as a silver craftsman more than 25 years and has made numerous of Miao style crafts and jewellery. Miao's bronze drum pattern varies in different Miao tribes and families, and it shows not only the fineness and beauty of the pattern itself, but also contains historical and traditional meanings and messages.

以前從來沒有特別注意filigree，即使看到它的物件，也並不會特別留意。並非不喜歡它，而是我對於物件本身的3D造型與結構的興趣，遠超過物件表面的2D裝飾圖樣。至於為什麼被潘師傅的filigree作品吸引，我想除了是苗族特有的圖樣之外，花紋的精緻度，令我這個第一次接觸filigree技法的孤陋寡聞鬼大大開眼界！

上課，就會有作業，就……。

After Mr. Pan's demonstration, it's our turn.... .

i・m・b・a・l・a・n・c・e。秤・不平。

（i'm balanced。平。）

（imbalance。不平。）

I didn't take the photo of the set of two - it's a scale. The two plates are different to each other in all aspects - the length, the shape, the weight, and the distance to the fulcrum. As well as this, the lever has contrasting ends too - a straight, well-shaped end, and a forged, descending end. Even the fulcrum location would change if making the hanger (for the lever) with a different material (and I couldn't figure out why)!

它們倆是一對，是一組秤，應該是要掛上秤桿一起拍；不過瞧瞧設備……以後補上：P

它們是一組平衡的不平衡秤，秤盤的形狀與重量都不一樣，垂吊的長度與支點的距離也都不對稱；而支點的平衡位置刻度，竟然也會因應掛勾的材質而變化……

「沒有什麼是絕對公平的，於是人們不停地衡量計算，維持著那微妙也危險的平衡。」

從10月21日起，在學學文創志業的「百年記藝特展」，將可以一覽潘師傅所帶來的作品；而交流工作坊的學員們，也將會展出這次的學習成果。展期到11月。之後南下，會在嘉義鐵道藝術村展出。

Hopefully I could take some nice photos of the scale in the exhibition. Here's the original look of the plates:

秤盤剛成形的樣子。