About Klint / CUT
As part of the editioning process, I tend to make quite a lot of colour proofs, often as test strips, in much the same way that a photographer would create density tests in a dark room, to consider how long to expose the image for, in order to achieve the best balance of hues and tones possible.
Additionally I tend to also re test a piece if I haven’t printed it for a while, to see if I can wring any more out of it, before making a new print.
So I often end up with a number of colourful strips lying around the edges of the studio. As a result I thought it might be interesting to continue the digital vs analogue debate, by making an edition that expressly contrasts digital and haptic cuts, using some Klint test strips as the basis for the experiment.
As they are already highly cut in the original drawings, I felt that the compositions would be able to withstand a further set of scalpel cuts too.
The final piece takes the idea of digitally cutting a fairly random gridded matrix of components, and then splicing this with a set of small Mirri card pieces.
They add a kind of ultra low tech animation to the final piece, the tones flickering from dark to light as the light reflects off them, and in so doing catch the eye in the same subconscious way that a small bird or animal movement would do.
It’s an entirely involuntary reflex, that is unavoidable, and one that adds an interesting extra dimension to the lexicon of techniques available to make a piece more eye-catching.
It may well be that for 2019 and beyond, I’ll be revisiting the idea of cutting the larger works into more components, and perhaps re composing them in more complex matrices for the wall too.
Klint, in the studio & in situ
Print Club blog, September 26th, 2018
“...I guess I’ve become a little more interested in the cut out after really enjoying the Matisse show at Tate a couple of years back and more recently reading / researching his Jazz book. I’ve got a fairly good Taschen version, which I’d recommend. If you haven’t already seen it…
…For edition #9 I’ve been experimenting with the idea of cutting up fragments of a colour proof I made for my Klint series, which made me wonder if there was something extra there to explore…
…To date the new edition has taken the form of a reworked cut and paste, or remixed, edit of two of the Klint drawings, alongside blocks of flat test colours, and additionally, as I’ve cut the pieces up, I’ve inserted small fragments of metallic foils, which kind of animate the work, in so far as that they catch the eye as the light shifts across them, and in so doing accentuate the beauty of the flat pigment areas…
…It’s an exploration into the digital vs the analogue, and combines the cutting of each, both on system, and on the workbench. The two types of cut of course accentuate the tension between the haptic and the digitally made, in a very overt way. The whole is then going to be adhered to a debossed sheet of locally sourced Somerset paper...”
Text from the Print Club blog, September 26th, 2018
About the Print Club
If you’d like to receive three or four exclusive new editions in the post each year, alongside personal news and views from the studio, and invitations to shows and fairs, please do consider becoming a member of my Experimental Print Club. You can join or leave the club at any time, with absolutely no obligation to stay any longer than you want to.
New works are sent out somewhat sporadically throughout the year, often in line with the changing seasons. Each piece is unique, exclusive, and only available on the day it’s editioned, the size of the edition being determined by the number of members on the day.
I hope the club presents a more personal and intriguing way to connect with the studio, by creating a platform for collecting engaging new works for your home. The club is hosted online here, and I send out fairly regular blog posts and emails about the work too. I’d like to think that it’s an interesting proposition!
Membership is currently priced at £36 per month inc. UK delivery, or £42 for an international address.
Associated works
