I went to a day-long Cyanotype Workshop led by Adam Hogarth today and it was an eye-opening experience. I experimented with scanned photos, as well as overlaid sketches on tracing paper. The results weren’t quite what I’d hoped for, but in the process of trying and failing I’ve become more acquainted with what works and what doesn’t. I’ve learnt that when using found objects, such as the lichen in this case, they need to be 2d to get the best results. I’ve been thinking about outsourcing an industrial pressing machine in order to flatten any thicker/ harder bits of lichen I might forage/ buy.
Another thing to note was our introduction to Anthotype printing, which is an image development process very similar to Cyanotype printing. The only difference between the two is the liquid used, on which the images are printed. Instead of using Ferric ammonium citrate and potassium ferricyanide, as one would for cyanotypes, the liquid is made by using plant dyes (photosensitive pigments in plants); It involves crushing/ blending plant material and diluting with water, before brushing onto a chosen surface. Depending on the plant material used (e.g. turmeric or spinach), different results will be attained. As opposed to the Prussian Blue colour associated with cyanotypes, this method can result in various shades and hues of greens and browns. If any photosensitive/ plant material/ dye can be used to make up this solution, then It would be interesting to see the outcome of a lichen-based one (also used as a traditional dye).
Moreover, one of the other students in todays class showed me the cyanotype prints of Japanese artist Mika Horie, whose approach I found quite relevant to my work. By using sunlight to develop her prints (as opposed to UV lightbulbs in controlled settings), hand-made gampi paper, and water from nearby streams to fix the images, her process demonstrates an unwavering loyalty to her natural environment. Quoted directly from a synopsis of her work ‘Perfectly Imperfect’: Horie Mika (1984)‘, we are told that “Trees, water and light are the main elements that Horie uses to create her artworks.” This embodiment of these more-than-human, animate bodies in her work is deeply participatory with the natural world and counters the extractive, mass produced practices of our modern day ‘technosphere’. The reliance on these ever-shifting, indeterminate bodies, brings a level of uncertainty to her work, as textures created are out of her control, and rather at the whims of these non-human features. And yet, these imperfections reflect the unpredictable nature of our sensory experience. I am reminded of a passage in David Abram’s ‘Spell of the Sensuous’ –
“For these other shapes and species have coevolved, like ourselves, with the rest of the shifting earth; their rhythms and forms are composed of layers upon layers of earlier rhythms, and in engaging them our senses are led into an inexhaustible depth that echoes that of our own flesh. The patterns on the stream’s surface as it ripples over the rocks, or on the bark of an elm tree, or in a cluster of weeds, are all composed of repetitive figures that never exactly repeat themselves, of iterated shapes to which are senses may attune themselves even while the gradual drift and metamorphosis of those shapes draws our awareness in unexpected an unpredictable directions.”
In contrast, the mass produced artefacts of civilisation, from milk cartons to washing machines to computers, draw our senses into a dance that endlessly reiterates itself without variation. To the sensing body these artifacts are, like all phenomena, animate and even alive, but their life is profoundly constrained by the specific ‘functions’ for which they were built. Once our bodies master these functions, the machine-made objects commonly teach our senses nothing further; they are unable to surprise us, and so we must continually acquire new built objects, new technologies, the latest model of this or that if we wish to stimulate ourselves”
(1996, p.64)
Horie has perhaps also arrived at such conclusions, stating:
“Wabi-sabi is simply the feeling of my daily life of creating. Each day I spend a significant amount of time catching its essence of tranquility, harmony, beauty and imperfection through shooting photos, making paper and cyanotype. I embrace the condition of gampi tree fiber, spring water and sunlight changing all the time. One day I realised that being surrounded by abundant nature has changed my mentality. I am getting to understand my imperfections.”
Adam also introduced us to toning methods earlier today, using organic material that contains tannic-acid to colourise developed cyanotype prints. Such materials would include wine, green tea, coffee, etc. I’ll work on exploring these methods for now while improving my visual compositions. The beauty of this process is that, once the basic methods are known, it is easy to start coming up with all sorts of weird and wonderful ways to alter the end result. Another thing to note is that hydrogen peroxide can be used to speed up the process, as well as providing much deeper blues. Lastly, we were shown a few cyanotype, mixed media animations. These have inspired me to potentially include a ‘moving image’ style element to my final work. I am still at a bit of a cross-roads with where to take my current ideas for Portolio Element 1 and although todays workshop has helped move things along, I need to start having a serious think about the ideas I am trying to evoke, and the sonic medium that will most appropriately bring them to life.