Anticlastic
The anticlastic technique is both ancient and modern, yet without history in between. In the Bronze Age, in Ireland, a craftsman created a “ribbon torc” from a sheet of metal twisted into a double helix.
This technique was lost until it was rediscovered in the latter half of the 20th century, in the 1970s, by Michael Good, Brian Clarke and Heikki Seppä.
Anticlastic raising makes it possible to transform a flat sheet of metal into a fluid, dynamic and strong form. The sheet of metal is worked directly with hammers and sinusoidal stakes (S-shaped).
The characteristics of the metal are transformed. The sheet is shaped by stretching the edges and compressing the centre, so that the surface develops two curves in opposite directions.
The strength and resilience given by the forming process make it possible to work with a relatively thin gauge of metal. Thin metals have a high level of elasticity, which means relatively large and lightweight pieces can be created.
The pattern of the sheet plays an important role in the form that will be achieved. Often, different shapes can be created from the same pattern.
Synclastic
Synclastic raising is the directly opposite technique to anticlastic. Whereas in anticlastic pieces the two axes curve in opposite directions, in synclastic pieces the axes curve in the same direction.
To make it easier to understand: a synclastic form could hold water, like a bowl, whereas an anticlastic form could not, like a horse saddle.