This week find three prints or artist's books created (at least in part) through letterpress. Write a review of each piece which includes a discussion of the subject, content and form and describe how letterpress is used (if you can tell). This is a good site to try http://www.birdpress.com/BooksPortfolios.html and so is this http://flyinghorse.cah.ucf.edu/ (flying horse is UCF's fine art press which we hope to visit in the next few weeks).
Due Wednesday, March 23rd by 1 pm.
http://reubenmiller.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/05/27/picture_14.png
ReplyDeleteThis print depicts a scene of a winding street with two diagonals. There are houses along the streets as well as people, cars, and trees. There is an abstract perspective because the doors are not straight across at the bottom, but rather continue down into the slope of the ground. The picture is three colors- pink, black, and blue. This would have used three separate plates because the reduction method would not have allowed for so much white space with none of the colors overlapping.
http://quadruped.us/matt/inkfinger/store/punc_big.jpg
This print is a compilation of punctuation marks of varying size. The bottom layer is red and the top plate is blue. The two layers are the same plate, flipped 90 degrees.
http://ny-image0.etsy.com/il_fullxfull.54157716.jpg
This image is of a fox in a monochromatic color scheme. The fox's bushy tail takes up much of the center of the frame, and some tree branches form a natural frame around the piece. There is a sketchy quality in the linework. This appears to be a reduction print. The light gold color would have been printed first, next the orange, and then finally the red.
http://www.00one.com/shop/shop_ihearttypography.html
ReplyDeleteThis print was done by Nick Schmitz on letterpress using both wood letters and polymer plates on Crane's Letra. I just adore how all the letters are spaced and come together to present a really organic form. The use of color is also has a nice effect. It gives the entire print a cool and flowing feel to it with just a splash of contrast that is really draws the viewer's eye into the piece. The concept of the print (the love of typography) is apparent. I also enjoy how the letters form words that take a second to be recognized. He struck a perfect balance between hidden and visible.
http://myloveforyou.typepad.com/.a/6a00d834cad15053ef011168d41e88970c-pi
This print was done by Lizzie Stewart. I completely adore the simplicity and complexity of the form that both exist at the same time. The house and water are simple shapes but there are so many intricate lines going through them that really energize the print. I don't know exactly what method besides letterpress was used for this print. The fact that the lines are so fine and that the overall form is not in a block shape really caused me to be interested in this piece. The colors used are subdued and pretty. I enjoy when a piece only has two colors in it that interact very well together but at the same time don't appear to be too "matchy".
http://www.flickr.com/photos/poppytalk/3158112301/
This print was done by Ashley Alexander. The duality of forms presented in this piece and their composition is wonderful. I love how many different pieces of information are arranged in a new and interesting way. There is man and woman, sea and land, function and style. All of these concepts swirl together and don't just seem to be plunked down on the page or positions so as to overwhelm the viewer. There is also a fluid flow of an implied line between the silhouettes of the laps and legs of the figures in the middle of the page. The quality of ink is also very nice, a solid fuzziness of a soft dark blue that seems to give the print depth even though it's only one layer.
LOS ANGELES LOTERIA - SERIES ONE
ReplyDeletehttp://www.aardvarkletterpressfinearteditions.com/edition1/El%20Tiroteo.html
El Tiroteo
by: Cristina Padron
I like this print because the background colors are soft and fluid. There is a clear landscape with a horizon line, and a line of cars in the foreground. The text is placed perfectly on the bottom in bold black letters that matches the outline of the image. However, the ink blot going outside the frame making the print more playful and fun. There are clearly a few methods to this print and despite the chaotic feel of the print, it is perfectly aligned. The overall print has a shadow of yellow over it giving it a vintage feel which is what I think gives the image a strong message.
http://www.aardvarkletterpressfinearteditions.com/edition1/Las%20Colinas.html
Las Colinas
by: Casey Ryder
I love the pattern of this print contrasting against the focal image. The Hollywood hills are set as the main picture, however the different lines and borders give the eye a lot to look at. The text in this image is also perfectly done, giving a clean-cut image. My favorite part about this print is how the indentions in the print give the image texture. The texture and patterns contrasting with the simple colors give the print a lot of dynamics which is what I find most successful about this print.
http://www.aardvarkletterpressfinearteditions.com/edition1/El%20Jefe.html
El Jefe
by: Ed Wexler
This print has a lot of motion to it, which is really interesting. The image resembles a sketch with three characters. The print plays a lot with lightness and darkness in order to give the texture of a drawing. There are a few accent colors that pop out on the print and stimulate the audience’s eye. The print’s main images flow outside of the border in the print giving a kind of exciting theme. The print has a bit of energy and disorganization, even though the print is very well done. Even though the print is more abstract, it has realistic figures, giving the print a lot of character.
TITLE: INTRANQUILO
ReplyDeletehttp://www.birdpress.com/BooksPortfolios.html
I found this print to be particularly interesting because of the artist’s use of realism and abstactism in the same piece. It obtains a simplistic nature, while at the same time having characteristics of surreal or abstract images that do not appear to have much obvious identity. I enjoy the fact that one must question this print ten times over before starting to really identify any sort of significance. The background image is indeed a photograph, while the cartoon-like objects “floating” in the foreground are printed from limestone. The idea of using stone as a printing mechanism right away caught my attention because it was the first time I even knew one could print with stone, especially limestone which is soft and brittle.
TITLE: LOVER LOSER
http://www.birdpress.com/BooksPortfolios.html
In this print, the artist has expressed a tight relationship between math and the image of the mermaid. Overlaying the image in red text appears to be some kind of mathematical equation. The relationship, also, between organic line and symmetrical line is interesting, the artist has over layered the two to show it’s similarities and differences. There also seams to be some kind of sexual reference with the penis-like shape in the right hand, bottom corner. The artist has chosen to make it electrical. I am very confused by this print and I think that is what struck me initially. The artist has printed these images on translucent Japanese paper; therefore the two images can be seen over lapping one another, or as separate. The viewer may choose to see the print in both ways to better understand the content.
TITLE: THE MAN WHO FELL UPWARDS
http://www.birdpress.com/BooksPortfolios.html
The unique contrast between male parts and female parts used together in one body makes this print interesting. It is extremely busy and reminds me of a scrap book or a sketch book that an artist uses to experiment in. There are many qualities of this print that requires you to look at it for a long period of time, and maybe look elsewhere to “cleanse” your vision, and return to it once again. When I did that, I found new things each time. I think another aspect of this print that really struck me was how many layers it has. The artist has created four separate prints on Japanese paper and then over layered them to create multiple layers and depth. This is another technique I never thought about, and would like to try sometime in the future.
1) All the books that I found on birdpress.com were interesting to say the least. The first artist book that I chose to look at was Egil and Thorsten Dennerline’s book. I found the images disturbing as they were all of grotesque humans with distorted features. Grotesque naked humans with distorted features. If it weren’t for the text in the images I would have no idea what the meaning behind these pieces was, but luckily there was text thanks to the letterpress. Egil and Thorsten used diagrams to move the text around their images in the order that they wanted the viewer to read it. Some of their pieces were about freedom of speech, “not letting terrorists take away our freedom,” gluttony (“eating shit”), and a diagram of a fuel pressure reducing valve.
ReplyDelete2) The second book that discovered on birdpress was Peter Laugesen’s. Laugesen’s work was similar to the Dennerlines in the fact that he also likes to draw grotesque humans with hands growing out of their noses and six heads stacked on top of each other. His work was different however when it came to using the letterpress. Unlike the Dennerlines, Laugensen used text much more sparingly and did not cover his images with it. Instead, he only used the letterpress in the back of his book when he did a short poem reflected forwards and backwards in two different languages in the middle of the page. How he did the backwards lettering, I do not know, but I did like the message of his text: “Nobody is completely ordinary and everything that everybody says makes sense even though many say the same as others and it is not sure they do not each mean it differently.”
THE TRUDGE OF INSECTS
ReplyDeleteLithography (3 colors), archival digital pigment prints, and letterpress on handmade paper
http://www.birdpress.com/BooksPortfolios.html
The subject in this book is an array of different insects. The perspectives and angles in which the insects were photographed changes on each page. An overlay of line detail from lithography creates depth, and makes the insects look as if they were still in a glass box, as dead ones are often kept. So even though the position of these bugs changes the fact that they are on display does not. Letterpress was used to add the poem on pages 5-13. I thought that this book was one of the most interesting, because I have not seen many that make use of digital images as a base for the prints.
26 WORDS
12.5 x 14 x 4 cm
Lithography. Letterpress
http://www.birdpress.com/BooksPortfolios.html
This book contains letter-pressed words accompanied by lithographic images that the artist used to illustrate them. Though often extremely literal, these images still have a distinct style, which adds unity to the piece as a whole. The use of the color red throughout also unifies the book.
LÆR MIG, NATTENS STJERNE!/ TEACH ME, STAR OF NIGHT!
Etching, woodcut, letterpress
http://www.birdpress.com/BooksPortfolios.html
This book has a similar style to “26 Words.” The eight etchings show surreal dream-like images. The text, “Nobody is completely ordinary” at the end accentuates this aspect of the book. The subjects are all figures with spare, distorted parts, or parts that wouldn’t normally be there at all. Letterpress was used both to create the images with the woodcuts, and to print the poem on the last page.