The seed of an idea

We have spent the past few days considering the incremental digital 'decimation' of a scanned tulip bulb for the artist Gordon Cheung. In no more than five devolutionary stages the bulb moves from a high resolution 3D recording (constructed of 381,774 triangles) to a simplified and singular pyramid structure. The specific tulip bulb that was recorded for the series is a Rothchild bulb that was selected by the artist whilst visiting Amsterdam earlier this year. The artist explains that the bulb is named after one of the most powerful banking family dynasties in history and therefore a principle player in spreading Capitalism globally. More to follow in the coming weeks.....

A room with a review

The following review of the Just Press Print exhibition at the Northern Print Gallery is by Sara Ogilvie, an artist, illustrator and Senior Lecturer in Imagemaking within Graphic Design, Northumbria University in Newcastle, UK. 

Most often an exhibition consists of marveling at polished final outcomes. Just Press Print, curated by Dr Paul Laidler from The Centre for Fine Print Research (CFPR) at University of the West of England, is an invitation to explore beyond this and get under the skin of the print process in its many forms.

CFPR is renowned for its cutting edge print facilities so it is no surprise to see an eclectic range of published prints on display. These recent prints have evolved from CFPR collaborations with a carefully selected group of artists. From mind bending vectors of flaming ice creams to 3D polymer Lichtenstein-esque knuckledusters each project vies for your attention to uncover how it came to be.

Layers of paper sketches, notes and test proofs bundled in bulldog clips hang informally from the walls. Rifle through these pages and you can share in the artist and printer exchange; eavesdrop on dialogue, decision-making and the ups and downs of the creative process that unfurls. It is this factor that pulls the diversity of artists together in this show and hooks the viewer into the work.

Designer Sebastian Schramm’s brief email asking, ‘Don’t you want to sell my prints?’ is a forthright invite which lead to a long distance collaboration between Schramm in Germany and Paul Laidler in the UK. The exchange is at times rapid fire, bouncing feedback on scale and colour, correcting digital photographic images of porcelain figurines augmented with unexpected head balloons in an exploration or alienation and individual behavior. The final edition of large saturated inkjets is vivid, striking and unsettling in equal measure.

Like Schramm each exhibiting artist opens the doors to their process and it is this welcoming, inclusive quality that is so refreshing. In Paul Coldwell’s accompanying visual chronicle we see more of the artist in the throws of the project. Scrawled sketchbook pages, noting the music playing in the studio and a packet of Trebor mints stray into shot. With a jaunty thumbs up over the printing press the atmosphere suggests a more easy going tempo in comparison to Schramm’s.

Coldwell’s outcome, ‘Lines and Branches’, shows two relief prints taken from laser cut MDF, which are also on display, depicting treetops coarsely treated with exaggerated halftone dots. Small personal artifacts are depicted such as letters, kirby grips and combs, items that keep strands together, separate or suggest lines of correspondence all related to family trees.

There are some fine examples of 3D printing on display. Katie Davies and Peter Walters have created ’Vela’ (2011) an elegant ghostlike form sitting quietly on its shelf. Inspired by remote constellations it is a transformation of audio data from a pulsar star into a 3D rapid prototype. In contrast to this is Brendan Reid’s Manta Ray, a 3D technicolour prototype with a rhythm of rainbow stripes shouting for attention.

Other intriguing colour concepts of note are Arthur Buxton’s obsessive digital data visualisations of British Vogue covers from 1981-2011. Like scrambled TV test cards predominant and common colours come to the fore in ordered bars. The results show that trend colour preferences have lightened in tone over the last 30 years.

This show undoubtedly displays the forward thinking ethos of CFPR in relation to digital technologies however it is encouraging to see everything in the mix; traditional, digital and 3D technologies are interwoven here.

It successfully spotlights how specialist guidance and liaison can help artists discover and ‘make’ in new ways, leading to unexpected print territories and possibilities. In his PhD curator, artist and CFPR printer Paul Laidler has explored whether the role of Master printer is still relevant in todays technological democratisation. This exhibition firmly suggests it is.

Mark's musings

UWE MA Printmaking student Mark Curtis Hughes has recently been assisting CFPR Editions with the printing of Paul Coldwell's laser cut and relief print edition entitled Lines and Branches. As part of the invitation to contribute to the project Mark was encouraged to reflect upon the process in relation to his own printmaking practice. In the proceeding text Mark discusses the differing approaches and considerations when printing in relief.

In my own first blog posting I mused with some open-ended questions about the importance of planning and preparation in the printmaking process. Over the past two months I’ve been working on two very different projects, one of my own and one through CFPR at UWE.

With CFPR, I’ve been helping edition a woodcut series for the artist Paul Coldwell. The blocks were made of MDF and lazercut. At the moment I’m doing test strips for white ink on black paper- we’ve already printed an edition black on white. The prints have just one layer, although for future editions colour will be added. The print I’m doing for myself is called “there she goes my beautiful world.” It’s also a woodcut, but I’m printing it as a reduction. So there will only be one edition. My aim for the print was to approach it in a painterly way- by improvising each layer as I came to it.

With the Coldwell print, we naturally made no contribution to the image, and CFPR and my involvement was purely technical. ‘We needed a perfect edition. What’s the best way of accomplishing this?’ So our approach was through lots of tests, proofs and concise documentation. There are all sorts of variables when making a run- ink consistence, rolling consistency, registration, packing and mess management- to name a few. Printing on the Columbian press we have at UWE we spent a lot of time fiddling with our packing set up. I was surprised how much the pressure varies between a test strip and a full print.

Something else I had to become familiar with was the block. I’d never printed a lazercut block before so I was interested to see how it might print differently. MDF itself prints similarly to lino; you get a sharper cut and less texture than with a regular piece of wood. This, with the precision of the lazer mean that the image we were printing was very fine and flat and required a smooth even layer of ink over the whole surface. An early problem we had was that the block itself was too thin, so when I rolled on the ink the board bent resulting in a sharp rectangular faded area on the print.

The wood I’m using is from a reclamation centre in Bristol. It’s a kind of hard wood, rich in colour, fine grain and easy to cut. It’s also got dents, cracks and holes all over it, which I incorporated into my design. It also has an impact of the layer of ink. I feel things like that gives the print and the block more personality.

Unlike, the Coldwell print I’ve been hand burnishing my woodblock. I use an assortment of spoons for different pressures and surface areas. This means I don’t need to worry about packing, however I do put newsprint over the paper to keep the back clean while I’m working. I think that hand printing gives you a texture you can’t achieve on the press; it also gives you more flexibility. But it is more labour intensive, even compared to the Columbian.

One similarity between the projects is registration. For the Coldwell prints it’s simply a means of ensuring uniformity through the edition. For mine it’s necessary to make sure all the layers line up. I’m allowing myself to be fairly flexible in my edition, allowing the layers of colour to flow and interact in an open playful kind of way. I don’t mind if there is some variation, as long as it’s contained with the boarder.

It’s really important to have a safe registration method; because the less time you’re faffing with the paper- getting it in place- the less likely you are to get ink or dirt where it shouldn’t be. With the Coldwell series we developed an order for rolling, lifting, covering and so on, involving many pairs of disposable gloves all in order to make sure the environment stayed as clean as possible. I took some of the ideas into my own edition. Particularly thinking about how the Chinese printmakers have a very ergonomical set up where the inks and the papers, and the cutting and printing areas have defined stations. All within easy reach. I’ve found that having an organised base on both projects is a very effective way of anticipating a level of quality in an edition. For my own prints, it was a secure starting point, to allow me more creative freedom.