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The exhibition build is almost over. It has been a lot of ‘hard graft’ but we are almost there. My plinth has taking quite a bit longer to build than I expected. I have never built one before so I wasn’t completely sure of the process and it was something of a learning curve. I’m glad I allocated enough time for it as it needed a lot of coats of paint. I should have coated it with PVA glue first, but I only learned that when it was too late. Also, because the wall which it was going to rest against was covered with wood, I couldn’t see that instead of a skirting board there was a deep step. So I had to alter the base to fit the wall. After the necessary alterations it was finished. Here is a picture of the finished article:
I spent a couple of days painting and cleaning the ‘Light Space’ room where my work is going to be shown. I also spent a good amount of time looking for a list of things for other people (plinths, extension leads, screws, etc.) as well as trying to help sort out some people’s problems with the look of the space to ensure their work is best presented without affecting the work of others. I must thank the staff from the Media and the Photography resource centers for their help with the installation of work, as well as the 3D resource center for their help with the building of plinths. These are a few photos of the space (notice my plinth and iMacs on the right 
) :
These are a couple of photos of the week before the exhibition. Still some work to do in the room. My movie can’t be shown full screen as there is a lot of light reflection on the iMac’s screens. To solve this problem I have reduced the size of the movie and I have introduced a white border around my movie that minimizes the reflections.
From the beginning of my project my aim has been to capture some of what remains of the architecture of the industrial era in an attempt to represent this period of time through modern digital technology and in this way make a connection between our current digital revolution and the industrial revolution of the 19th & 20th century.
This essay is a reflection on my two year journey into the project, on my learning, development and contextualization of ‘Industrialism brought forward’.
This is the link to the PDF file of my essay
To represent my work within publicity for the show I have chosen an extract from the final version of the video and a few of the valves. The reason why I haven’t chosen the full typology is because its orientation is portrait and it will look too small on the projection. For the same reason I choose just one of the valves to represent my work on the postcard and to have continuity I have done the same for the catalog and website. I look forward to seeing all of it.
MADA10 website: http://www.mada2010.co.uk
MADA10 Facebook: http://en-gb.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=216061&id=123235641039024
Short Artist Statement:
This project observes functional architecture from the industrial era and its environment, exploring this study through methodical photographic documentation. It comprises the mixing of digital and analogue technologies and engages with the materiality of the output surfaces to effectively capture the suspended and timeless state of its primal subjects.
1. Show reel
2. Postcard
Finally I have finished printing the second lot of six valves. These six plates had to be inked twice as after the first day of inking the resulting print was not satisfactory. The pressure of the press was equal but it seemed that it needed to be a little tighter. Also, as another factor, the plates may have been rubbed too much, so the result was quite light.
The second day of inking the plates I made sure that Paul Atkins (Print Making Resource’s manager) double checked the plates before inking and he also put more pressure on the press. This time the press was so tight that two technicians had to turn the wheel. The print came out well. Finlay Taylor (MA Print Making tutor) was there and he was very complementary of the result. Paul Atkins has requested an edition to be part of their archive. I’ll probably do this during the assessment week.
I have now photographed the two sheets of valves and taken them to the framers. I have chosen a hand made and painted white box frame with no mount board so the print will be floating. This style is quite minimal, modern and extremely good quality, which is something I was looking to achieve as again I am trying to encapsulate the industrial era feeling of the images and make a parallel with our contemporary times.
Elements of the frame
Frame detail
Floating mount detail
After all this work I am really looking forward to seeing them hang on the wall.
A successful attempt! After inking the 6 the plates (the explanation of technique, previous attempts and progress can be followed in part1 and part2 and part3) this time I went back to the original printing press which has the correct measures for my print. The paper was soaked for 3 hours and the plates were padded by a 6mm stiff metal sheet. The plates inking was double checked and then was run through the press… and a beautiful first good print came out. Now I need to print my second lot of 6 valves.
First 6 inked plates on table:
Harry F Rochat Printing Press
I have been attempting to print six plates featuring my images of valves in one piece of Somerset satin. My attempts can be seen in blogs part1 and part2. I tried to solve it by using different wetness of paper but that didn’t seem to be the problem and also by packing the bed with print paper the same size as my output print to increase the pressure. Evaluating the print, there seems to be a lack of contact between the plate and the paper. The brand of paper used, soaking time, and pressure settings of the press are all factors that will greatly affect how the print will look. A considerable amount of pressure is required to get good prints using a fine aquatint screen. A solution to even the amount of pressure from the printing press could be to cut irregular concentric shape out of print paper to prop up the problematic areas.
So this time the paper was soaked for 3 hours but very well blotted so there were no wet patches. I actually moved the printing to a different press. This printing press was quite tight for the size of the paper, the edges where slightly hanging out of the bed and I had to trim my registration sheet to fit it. Still, I wanted to see if the pressure of this press was working on my plates before doing all the irregular concentric shape padding. I run the press again and…unfortunately there were still a few white patches which meant that this press although not as worn out it was still a bit worn out and the pressure wasn’t even or I just didn’t add enough pressure. I’ll have to try again.
Different stages of inking the Toyobo Printight Solar Plate (KM73):
It was a short tutorial but a good update. I showed Andy the first typology on Intaglio Printing- the 6 valves I just printed on a sheet of Somerset satin paper. He was very happy with the achieved result. It has taken a lot of effort to produce this piece, but I think is been worthy.
We also went to see the room where my work is going to be displayed and I explained what Derek Yates, the tutor for FDA, plans to do with the room. I have been in conversation with Derek Yates and David Cross to keep updated about the BA and FDA exhibition plans and how they are going to affect the spaces where we will be exhibiting. We discussed about the need of power points and internet connections. I think that the rooms will have everything we need for the show.
Second time inking. I followed the same process to ink the six Solar plates. When the time came for printing I used Somerset satin paper again, but this time it was a little wetter than the first time. Another variation was that the bed of the press was packed with 7 print paper sheets, the same size as my Somerset paper, to make the pressure greater. After running the press the result wasn’t too dissimilar to the first attempt. I believe that the paper being a little dryer with no visible wetness works better. It seems that I the problem lies with the pressure applied onto the plates and the amount of print paper sheets underneath wasn’t enough. The press that I am using is a very old machine and it is a bit worn down which explains an uneven pressure. Saying this I also have to take into account that I am trying to print six plates on the same paper so that makes the possibility of uneven pressure more likely to happen as well as pulling the paper down with different tensions. I know it is a complicated process, but I will keep on trying.
The beautiful press I am using
Industrialism brought forward….
After the presentation of my video I didn’t have a lot of feedback from my peers. I was expecting a few more comments but I am happy as the general reception was very good. I was asked about the output of the typology and I explained that is going to be two sheets of paper with 6 valves printed by the process of photo intaglio. I also mentioned that I would like to continue expanding my project and continue with the theme of typology in the future as I think that two years part-time are not sufficient to finalize this project. I still feel that I have more research and work to do.
TEXT for the video:
The aim of my project has been to capture some of what remains from the architecture of the industrial era in an attempt to represent this period of time through modern digital technology making a connection between our current digital revolution and the industrial revolution.
My work has a documentary nature and I have used photography as my main methodology. The weight of photography as a documenting tool can be observed in its history as an indexical sign and with its reference to the past, the ‘still’ creates a signifier of the memorable.
The following are key contextual points that helped to form the foundation from which my project was constructed:
I have taken inspiration from photographers of the New Objectivity movement (1920s) like Renger-Patzsch, Karl Blossfeldt (1928) and Emmanuel Sougez (1939) characterised by a detached, almost scientific objectivity and precise attention to detail. These aesthetics kept influencing photographers in the 1960s such as industrial photographer Wolfgang Sievers.
They also influenced Bernd and Hilla Becher whose photographic prints where ordered to form object families – called typologies. By putting the images next to each other the rhetoric of a document was reinforced. An archive concept was created, photography being a starting point for the memory to work.
Most recently, influenced by Duchamp, we have Hiroshi Sugimoto and his series Conceptual Forms (2004). He is interested in the 19 and 20th centuries. He regards all photographs as being found objects, “they are stealing the image from the world” and making it into a multiple.
In connection to my moving image piece, I must mention Étienne-Jules Marey (1890s) whose work was developed out of methodological and precise experiments. His experiments to capture movement where named Chronophotography, which were a set of photographs of a moving image taken from the same viewpoint at equal intervals.
The theme of water, an aspect of my own piece, is recurrent in Roni Horn’s work. In her installations for Library of Water (2007) she created an archive of water from 24 glacial sources across Iceland. And her Still Water piece (1999) is a series of photographs of water with tiny numbers that refer to footnotes presenting a series of quotations on the moods and narratives that the river evokes.
Visiting different industrial locations I observed that a key component to machinery of the time was their valves, both an essential artefact for the machine to function and a direct allusion to the human/machine relationship and dependency.
Water was also a very important element, the vital force that made steam engines possible – and with them the creation of numerous kinds of revolutionary machinery – and it was a vital means of transport, the canal system being the main artery for commerce and industrial expansion.
I considered that my project, being a photographic documentation, should have a methodical and definite stylistic approach. I researched what was going to become my methodology; a way of working that will allow my referents to talk for themselves. I explored different techniques to acquire a good range of tonality in spaces with low lighting issues.
I have chosen two different ways of representing the two elements (valves and water) and currently I am working on finalising my two pieces.
1. The valves I have photographed methodically and I intend to present them forming a typology of 12 that will depict the archival desire invested in the capturing of these images. The long exposure photographs have been treated in postproduction by using an HDR process in Photomatix and then synthesising two different exposures in Photoshop. They have then been taken through a process of photo intaglio. Because of the nature of my image referent I find it appropriate to reproduce it in archival paper made using a traditional cylinder mould machine from 1907. The surface of this paper has a gentle texture made out of cotton that offers a long life and durability, so in some way this paper has been infused with similar craftsmanship as that of the valves. By mixing the sophisticated digital processes with a printing technique that has its origins at the birth of photography I am trying to make a reference to the encapsulation of time as well as investing thought into the different output surfaces in which the digital image can be reproduced.
2. The water, I have chosen to represent this second aspect as a piece of moving image made out of Chronophotography. Chronophotography allows the subversion of real time to a different pace, it creates a juxtaposition of technologies; photography representing a pensive moment and film representing the present. Photographs when showed one after the other give us the illusion of motion whilst presenting the subtleties of individually captured moments.
I methodically photographed the same spot of water on different days. I took over 6000 photographs that compose five different captures. To mirror the process used on the valve images where I merged two different exposures I am exploring the merging of two different footages into one. This presents to the viewer a double set of information of exactly the same location captured at different times, bringing the concept of time capture closer to mind.
The pace of the sequence will slow down at random intervals reminding us of the static nature of the footage and bringing back the pensive quality of photography.
First day of inking the first six plates. I made an acrylic sheet registration plate, marking with a pen the outline of the six plates in their correct position and the paper size.
The fine stochastic screens I used create a very delicate aquatint, especially in the soft highlights. I used Charbonnel black etching ink
55981, is a universal supple black, viscous but easier to wipe than others. I applied the ink initially with a square bit of card spreading an even thin layer. Then I used cheesecloth with a twisting motion of wrist, lightly grinding the ink into the tooth of plate and at the same time wiping off the excess of ink and smoothing it out. I followed this with a tissue paper wipe to control and smoothen highlights. Once the plate was cleanly wiped I took a clean piece of cheesecloth and lightly dragged it over it in a random pattern. This is called retroussage, it cleans up and smoothens remaining micro-clumps of ink in a random fashion.
Finally, I wiped the edges with flannel rag changing the angle so it moves the ink toward the back of the plate. When the rag came back relatively clean, I flipped the plate face-down onto clean newsprint and wiped the back with the rag too. Then I double-checked and rewiped the edges. This process took about 40 minutes per plate. Luckily I had some help from Claire Alonge, who made the whole process much more bearable 
Towards the end of the day the plates were ready to print. The paper, Somerset satin 410gms, had been soaking for the last forty minutes and it was time to place the plates in the right position on the bed of the press, following the marks of the registration plate underneath. The paper was then blotted and put on top of the plates facing down and covered with two sheets of tissue paper with the blankets on top. I run the press with some help as it was a big heavy wheel due to the pressure needed to print, trying to move through the press consistently and not too quickly (if you stop once the press is in motion you may leave a heavy roller mark on the print).
Once it was through I had a look at the print. Unfortunately it hadn’t printed properly. It looked like some parts of some of the plates didn’t print; there were white patches near the center of the two columns, especially in the two last plates. It may have been due to the paper being too wet or not wet enough, it could be due to the pressure of the printer. However, I was not certain of which.
What I am trying to achieve presents a challenge. Printing six plates at the same time on a single sheet of paper puts six different pressure points on the single sheet, the tension applied to the paper when it goes through the printing press is irregular and to achieve uniformity is very difficult.
Disappointing after a days work but next week I’ll do it all again.
