Monday, April 28, 2008
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Those "In The Know"
Donald Kuspit visited The University of Pennsylvania for a lecture. This morning, we had an in-gallery critique with him.
SOME NOTES from my segment:
- These prints are abstract. You are using the letters as gesture.
- Attesting to the idea that abstract works aren't dead. A new kind of abstract.
- You are undergoing a dilemma. Do you go the industrial, commercial design route to support yourself, or go the other route into color, gesture, and pushing the ideas of modern abstraction?
- Scramble more. More 'word salad', for lack of a better term.
- The digital parts are so cheery, so upbeat. They don't square with the seriousness of the visual testing going on in the prints. They are a starting point. Don't try and return to them to 'finish' the study.
- There is a context, today, for this nostalgia, this re-interpolation of these techniques.
- These prints are abstract. You are using the letters as gesture.
- Attesting to the idea that abstract works aren't dead. A new kind of abstract.
- You are undergoing a dilemma. Do you go the industrial, commercial design route to support yourself, or go the other route into color, gesture, and pushing the ideas of modern abstraction?
- Scramble more. More 'word salad', for lack of a better term.
- The digital parts are so cheery, so upbeat. They don't square with the seriousness of the visual testing going on in the prints. They are a starting point. Don't try and return to them to 'finish' the study.
- There is a context, today, for this nostalgia, this re-interpolation of these techniques.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
cavernous.
After a really blissful week off (give or take) from the matrix of production, I was ready to revisit The Common Press and my characters. Thanks to a previously unnecessary 4' x 8' sheet of plywood, I now have a variety of bases upon which to adhere my large Everyman (Plex-Man) characters.
Last night, I decided to attempt to bend the Vandercook to my will (insert diabolical laughter?). As in, pull a series of large prints on the letterpress that show no resemblance to "traditional" letterpress prints, besides the fixed width dimension.
The first tan/gold/mustard one was the worst, but I needed to get it over with and out of my system, and then moved on.
I made an enormous mess. And also many gradients. I printed a few on nearly translucent kozu paper with a bed/tympan packed to the hilt. I cracked about 4 letters into pieces, and still can't wash the cyan out from under my fingernails.
I hoped for these to feel "cavernous."
Last night, I decided to attempt to bend the Vandercook to my will (insert diabolical laughter?). As in, pull a series of large prints on the letterpress that show no resemblance to "traditional" letterpress prints, besides the fixed width dimension.
The first tan/gold/mustard one was the worst, but I needed to get it over with and out of my system, and then moved on.
I made an enormous mess. And also many gradients. I printed a few on nearly translucent kozu paper with a bed/tympan packed to the hilt. I cracked about 4 letters into pieces, and still can't wash the cyan out from under my fingernails.
I hoped for these to feel "cavernous."
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
trivia for everyone.
This blue ink was/is really great. The scan is inferior. "Pure Hueset Blue" I think is what the canister said, and I can't tell if it is a royal blue or a wonky violet from instant to instant.
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