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This is
what we talk about............
Printed
Images, Posters; the Distribution of Visions, Narratives and
Testimonies.
The
strength of the printed image lies in its inherent diversity, creating
great potential for those who believe
that narrative and import are accessed through images.
Terms
and conditions regarding the production and distribution of Fine Art
Prints are, as one would expect,
incomparable, including the corresponding narrative and import.
Commercial processes and equipment, relieved of
their use, are still very much actively employed within the
Fine Arts, whilst the latest digital printing processes are
easily accessible via the desktop and
personal
computer.
During the
course of the last century, the prerequisites for interaction between
technology and expression have altered, allowing
printmaking to create space for the exogamy of the old and
the new, thus creating further prospective applications.
More than
ever before, the artist him/herself is given greater opportunities in
influencing the production and distribution of
his/her own work. This is a decisive divergence from earlier
epochs. Besides the artist’s skill in narration and
craft practice, however, this also requires up to date
knowledge of developments and new areas of application.
A society
aiming to develop according to democratic principles must provide the
countless human phenomena with the necessary care
and resources. The expansion and augmentation of a European
collaboration is essentially about taking
responsibility for, and developing an active and informative
cultural heritage, in which the local and the
individual is provided with the opportunity to reinforce the
common.
Within the
Nordic countries and the rest of Europe both private and communal
printmaking workshops exist, situated in many
physical locations. Each and everyone possessing great
knowledge of the various and extensive printmaking processes
and furthermore have already established
fundamental prerequisites for the steady development of
knowledge, a long time ago. We want to see a European
collaboration of artists, which includes the exchange of
knowledge within the field of printmaking as well
the exchange of human experience and narrative. The innate
diversity of the printed image facilitates distribution and
equally supports the proficiency the communication
language of the Fine Arts, along side our many and diverse
verbal languages.
The roll of
Fine Art Print within Education.
In the
prevailing knowledge society we live in, the limits for the Fine Arts
are not always easily defined. Encounters with
other areas of education and the subsequent opportunities
these encounters create, are determined, to a large extent,
by the
flexible nature of the Fine Arts, the aware and
fearless practitioner, and that which the observer and other
promoters are able to procure.
Courses,
within the craft based programmes at university level such as
printmaking, metal casting and other artistic expressions
requiring competence in the workshop, are no longer able to
earnestly pursue the development and research of process and
craft practice. This means that we run the risk of a
depletion of knowledge, thus affecting means of expression.
If we
optimise the mobilisation of the innovative powers, which exist within
printmaking, it can in itself contribute to
community development and research and the Fine Arts.
Contemporary
craft practice conducted in studios and workshops is still fundamental
for the creation of the art object. It is however a
practice, which demands concentration and an
appropriate technical and practical milieu. However, the
development of the practice of craft expression
within the Fine Arts is having a hard time finding the
necessary platform – during the latter
years universities have primarily concentrated on verbal
language as a means of creative expression within Fine Art
research. Specifications and conditions for the development
of craft practice are, as of yet, to be defined,
and also how altered needs required for the production of the
art object and means of expression, are to be met.
In ensuring that modern technology is accessible for the
artistic processes, one is able to direct energy into innovation and
unpredictability. Something which commercial and
result-orientated enterprise seldom has time to investigate,
but it is however commonly asserted, that the
unpredictability factor is decisive in every area of
knowledge, if it does not wish to dissolve into
oblivion.
Economic
resources are, of course, necessary in creating an efficient situation
conducive to work, not the least, when it comes to
technical requirements. All monies invested in projects
require quantifiable results. It is very difficult for art
production to foresee tangible profits or count returns in
euro and cent. Relevant discussion, including
functional elements and investment results within the
production of the Fine Arts, must be kept alive,
assessed and balanced from case to case.
A regional
network within the area of printmaking is at present under
construction, based on pre-established
international contacts, by independent printmaking workshops
and courses. They will hold a central roll in the sustenance
of knowledge within craft practice and in developing new
processes in the area. The professional workshops
will, accordingly, be able take on an intermediary roll,
working between the universities, practicing artists, the
community and the public. Which, in turn, will
mutually stimulate the exchange of knowledge, the development
of printmaking processes and furthermore aid and facilitate
access for the university’s third objective; an
embracing contact with the community.
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