Making art with ketchup

I've received a few questions about the ketchup piece hanging in START gallery (7 Lorne St.), so here are a few more splats about it. Firstly, I titled the piece Thank Goodness for Heinz because making your own ketchup is very time-intensive. The active time is about 1/2 hr., but it takes a couple hours for the flavours to fully develop. Considering that this condiment is usually put on fast meals it doesn't make much sense to make your own. Plus, it only keeps for roughly 3 weeks. I suppose it really depends on how often one uses ketchup.

For the wall piece I used a combination of store-bought ketchups, including President's Choice Blue Menu, Co-op, and No Name. The No Name was not very conducive to my project because it was quite runny compared to the others. Its priced lower because it is watered down (with vinegar I suspect), which means it evaporates slower and takes longer to dry out. Depending on the weather and the air in our unheated sun porch, it took between 3 days and 10 days to set. The cheap stuff remains sticky and is harder to work with. Cheap ketchup may be good enough to eat, but it is mediocre for making art! Next time, I would consider making my own ketchup and using extra tomato to create the perfect piping consistency. And yes, I used it straight out of the squeeze bottle!