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Amy Lea BA Illustration Level 4 2017 OUIL401

Studio Brief 1 - Critical Analysis Piece 1 - Triangulation and referencing Do we value craft and the analogue in the digital age?

This essay will discuss the value of the analogue and craft in the digital age. It will be looking at the importance of craftsmanship and the hand of the maker, the introduction of technology to the analogue processes and using advances of the digital age to enhance work through texts by David Crow, Phil Taylor and Grayson Perry.

Part of what makes the analogue so appealing and ‘more alluring’ (Taylor, 2010) are the unpredictable and performance elements. David Crow, author of ‘Magic box: craft and the computer essay 2008, discusses Alice Kettle, craft practitioner, how she views craft as a performance and help from assistants or apprentices is allowing the unexpected to surface rather than be mechanical. It is this ‘unexpected’ (Crow 2008) element that cannot be predetermined that draws both artists and viewers in. It allows artworks to be individual and not just carbon copies of one another - they have quirks and charms about them and artists and designers sometimes allow the accidents to inform their next decision in the creative process. Artist, Grayson Perry (2016) also states that because technology is doing exactly as it is told, ‘digital production’ can have a ‘lifeless feeling’, which again contributes to the idea of the unpredictable. This begins to build on the idea of a presence of the maker, where a laborious relationship and commitment to the work is evident and not the under lying fear that it is a digitalised outcome that could have been resolved by the push of a few buttons. Phil Taylor also comments on this in his paper that students can sit ‘in front of an old, poorly operating typewriter’ (2010) to achieve an ‘unpredictable outcome that may involve ‘happy accidents’ along the route and a chance of alchemy’ (2010). The definition for ‘Alchemy’ on the Cambridge Dictionaries website has connotations of magic which is an extraordinary way to describe an artwork and Taylor goes on to comment that ‘the magic of the digital does not matter - the alchemy of the analogue is more unpredictable and therefore more alluring’ (2010) further backing this up.

Equally, Perry (2016) states that ‘as technology develops, craftspeople will become better at predicting and nuancing their instructions to machines and digital manufacturing will become more refined’ which suggests more ‘happy accidents’ (Taylor, 2010) will be apparent in digital work. It is about working with the digital as a craftsperson to enhance the work rather than take away from it. In the digital age that we live in, it has become very difficult for an illustrator to work completely analogue

Amy Lea BA Illustration Level 4 2017 OUIL401

with programmes such as Adobe Illustrator and Abode Photoshop easily allowing adjustments and touch ups to be made to analogue work created using craft and old methods of image making so it is important to use the two together to push the process… As Crow also goes on to say it is the ‘process of play, experiment, adjustment, individual judgement and the love of material’ (2008) that defines the practice than the material itself, suggesting that the digital can be part of this process to create the work. The digital can become a part of the craftsman’s toolbox.

The hand plays a very important part in craft as emphasised in chapter five of Sennett’s book The Craftsman - ‘two centuries ago, Immanuel Kant casually remarked: "The hand is the window on to the mind.”…Of all our limbs, the hands make the most varied movements, movements that can be controlled at will. …plus the hand's different ways of gripping and the sense of touch, affect the ways we think.’ (Sennett, 2008) which is only stressed further in Crow’s 2008 essay. He says that ‘key to the way we talk about craft practice is this presence of the hand’ (2008) and that ‘the hand is an important metaphorical signal for the presence of the individual in craft.’ (Crow, 2008) This is heavily important as it makes work more personal and meaningful showing the hand of the maker. Often it will be questioned how long has been spent on the piece and how has the process enforced context to the piece and this ‘presence of the hand’ (Crow, 2008) is so important in reinforcing the visual language and appropriate and sensitive tone conveyed of the piece. Being in the digital age, for young creatives it is the old means of making and craftsmanship, which appear new and appealing. Phil Taylor conveys the idea that craft today is fuelled by the young creatives with whom ‘the DIY approach… seems to resonate’ (2010). This is further explored through comments on popularity of the traditional letterpress facility as a pose to the new technology on offer. It is a hands on approach they crave and shows this, the traditional and crafts, is what is exciting, new and heavily considered now for them in their practice.

In the article ‘are computers killing off craft’ (Perry, 2016) Perry seems to go heavily against this idea of the hand and crafted analogue work being so important as he believes that ‘digital technology offers the craftsman and the artist creative opportunities that were previously too expensive for an individual, too timeconsuming or just plain impossible’ and that ‘to become skillful with these newer technologies is to be just as much of a craftsman as a traditional weaver or potter’ (2016). He sees the digital and newer technologies as just as much of a skill as the analogue crafts - valuing them as a combination. Crow equally understands that ‘in the age of the machine, as industrialisation came to dominate in the nineteenth century, there was less and less place for the hand.’ (2008) Phil Taylor (2010) does discuss the ‘intriguing contradiction dilemma’ of not using the digital in the creation of the artwork but in it’s ‘dissemination’. This links with Perry’s comments on his

Amy Lea BA Illustration Level 4 2017 OUIL401

craftspeople, ‘every one of them uses – to a greater or lesser degree – the wonderful technology now so woven into our lives’ (2016). All of these points lead toward to conclusion that analogue and craft is still valued and used heavily in the digital age but it is important to fuse the two together to achieve greater things and allow modern technology and advances to enhance the artists, craft mans, designers, illustrators practice.

Piece 2 - Image analysis When considering craft and the analogue in the digital age it’s important to consider a wide range of artists, designers, crafts people and illustrators. This essay is going to explore visuals from as early as the 1800s by William Morris to an illustration piece created in 2015.

In the paper ‘analogue versus digital in the creative process’ (Taylor, 2010), it states that students can sit ‘in front of an old, poorly operating typewriter’ to achieve an ‘unpredictable outcome’ and this links to my first image - figure 1, ‘Brick Lane/ Sclater Street’ (2015) a typic by Keira Rathbone. It visually seems like an ordinary piece of artwork but it is in fact made up of marks from a manual typewriter. Her typing/drawing process becomes a performance and these performance elements of Rathbones methodology links directly to the paper ‘analogue versus digital in the creative process’ (Taylor 2010) as it becomes more ‘alluring’ as people begin to engage with ‘the alchemy of the analogue’ (Taylor 2010) and the outcome. There is a heavy ‘presence of the hand’ a term referred to by Taylor (2010), in Rathbones work (figure 1) with the sense of touch and physicality to it which really shows the hand of the maker.

Figure 1 was completed on Brick Lane/ Sclater Street so location becomes paramount to the piece - she captures the hectic vibes through working fast.

Movement is captured in the piece through the obscure figures contrasting with the bold permanent historical buildings. It has an interesting composition due to the clear understanding of perspective with a line of view. The artist has also incorporated text to give the second audience viewing the artwork in the Brick Lane gallery exhibition more context. The text won’t be for the primary audience, those passing by seeing the piece performed, as it will be apparent due to being on location.

Similarly, in figure 2, ‘Trellis’, a William Morris wallpaper, location is key to the contents. ‘Trellis’ was designed just after moving to the Red House and was inspired by the gardens, which were arranged in a Medieval style. The Design reform movement also had a big impact on the design - it was a ‘compromise between the boldly coloured pectoral patterns which were then popular with the general public,

Amy Lea BA Illustration Level 4 2017 OUIL401

and the formalised flat patterns in muted tones which were promoted by this movement.’ (V&A museum website, accessed 2017) Morris (along with Ruskin) was a key component in the arts and crafts movement which was made up of English designers and writers who wanted a return to ‘wellmade, hand crafted goods instead of mass-produced, poor quality, machine made items’ (BBC website, accessed 2017) and this is clearly evident in his work. In figure 2 the design has been chiselled in to wood. It is a wood block that has been printed hand cut and prepared by a chosen specialist firm. Again this ‘presence of the hand’ (Crow 2008) is important and in this image what makes the work so remarkable and beautiful. The level of craftsmanship and labour gone in to this piece really puts what Taylor (2010) wrote in to practice ‘the magic of the digital does not matter - the alchemy of the analogue is more unpredictable and therefore more alluring’ . There are no digital aspects to his work unlike in my third chosen image…

Figure 3 is a risoprint by illustrator Louise Lockhart. The production of her work leads the aesthetic as she hand cuts the shapes and scans them in to work with them on the computer. The importance of ‘the presence of the hand’ that Crow (2008) discusses in his essay comes to light as the presence of Lockhart’s hand is very evident through her use of crude shape. Her work has a charming naivety to it and looks completely analogue - almost like a screen-printed piece. The limited use of colour adds to this analogue aesthetic, as colour is something limited when using analogue processes but it works to aid the piece in being appropriate for both genders and I find that those areas with more colours layered up are striking and of more interest. The textures in the piece are lovely and part of the charm, which may be intentional to convey connotations of ‘cheap’ and low budget life as a student.

Figure 3 is a risograph, a ‘highspeed, photo-copier meets mimeograph printing system’, ‘produced for high volume copying and printing back in the mid 80s’ and a ‘more affordable option’ (Anna Chayasatit, 2015). This is key to the subject in question of the analogue and digital as it is a clear example of the two fusing together. As Perry (2016) states ‘to get great results the user has to be just as sympathetic to the material effects of a particular digital technique’ and this sums up Lockhart’s practice and process so well.

Taylor’s 2010 paper states ‘craft today is fuelled by young creatives’ and both Rathbone and Lockhart’s processes here are a clear example of that as they have taken old technology (a typewriter) and a craft (paper cutting) and updated and adapted the way they have carried them out to communicate and convey something new. It is particularly interesting how Rathbone changes the manual typewriters

Amy Lea BA Illustration Level 4 2017 OUIL401

function to create a unique drawing technique and produce the work she wants.

Perhaps Morris, figure 2, would appreciate Rathbones work (figure 1) and its hand crafted nature, which is heavily part of the arts and crafts movement.

Although the three of my chosen images are very different there are similarities linked to the artists chosen processes and means of production. Through history and now in the current day there is a constant uncertainty to the appeal of the digital and having followed through with this visual analysis I believe it will continue for many years allowing artists to conform and oppose.

Figure 1

Figure 3

Figure 2

Amy Lea BA Illustration Level 4 2017 OUIL401

Piece 3 - Reflective practice A running theme throughout the visual response journal has been the differences in outcomes when working completely analogue using paper cut, monotype and drawing compared to working digitally using programmes such as Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator. Towards the end of the visual journal the outcomes have progressed to more refined pieces exploring what happens when the analogue and the digital are fused together. Grayson Perry in a piece for The Guardian in 2016 states that ‘as technology develops, craftspeople will become better at predicting and nuancing their instructions to machines and digital manufacturing will become more refined’. This informed the decision to discuss two particular pieces from the journal as one is completely hand rendered and the other is a fusion of analogue and digital meaning analysis and comparisons can be made on the process rather than content.

Figure 1 is a hand rendered piece of work which links the piece directly to the question ‘do we value craft and the analogue in the digital age?’. Overall, the piece is visually unsuccessful but it is successful in highlighting the differences between analogue and digital. The paper shapes have been cut by hand into crude and not carefully crafted shapes that could have emphasised the delicacy of the crafting and analogue aesthetic. There are errors and mistakes through the haphazard nature of the cut shapes which could be described as unpredictable elements - part of what is argued to make the analogue so appealing and ‘more alluring’ (Taylor, 2010) are these unpredictable elements. The wax crayon used has interesting textures that add charm and a childlike finish and naivety to the piece. These things add up to have a clear suggestion of the ‘presence of the hand’ (Taylor, 2010).

There is an interesting direct comparison that can be made between figure 1 and figure 2 as they share the same design and composition yet figure 1 seems incorrect in terms of the proportions of the shapes in the design in relation to one another. The composition of the shapes looks unbalanced whereas the use of the digital programmes for figure 2 overcomes this.

Figure 2, in terms of design elements, is very similar to figure 1 but the focus here is on the process and means of production. First of all, there is an interesting use of solid colour and selected use of transparencies in some shapes to bring interest and more information to the forefront through more of the design being visible. Rather than scan the paper cut shapes and use those as a guide, vectors have been used to lead the creation of these shapes that purposely have crude and jerky edges. This has been done to show that the digital does not have to be used to change the whole aesthetic of the piece as elements of the analogue aesthetic can still be seen.

Amy Lea BA Illustration Level 4 2017 OUIL401

Hand rendered lines have however been scanned in and manipulated digitally to create a grid layer within the design - literally bringing a ‘presence of the hand’ (Crow, 2008) to the digital piece. Working digitally allows the artist to work in layers and as commented in the triangulation text, Crow discusses the ‘process of play, experiment, adjustment, individual judgement and the love of material’ (2008) which defines the practice rather than the material itself, suggesting that the digital can be part of this process to create the work. This suggests that the ‘process of play’ (Crow, 2008) even in the digital processes with the decision making in terms of shape placement and layers can add to the work being more alluring and visually successful. Working digitally meant colours could be adjusted to make the piece suitable for printing but also so they work well together as a palette. The colours could be changed right up until the end of the production of the piece that was a positive to working digitally as this wouldn't be possible when working by hand.

There are still elements of craft and the analogue evident in figure 2, which is a result of combining analogue and digital. The hand rendered textures and marks show the hand of the maker and the sensitivity of the hand rather than harsh lines dominating the piece. In a similar way to building a collage using paper pieces digital allowed to build up a digital collage this way using layers. As Perry stated ‘to get great results the user has to be just as sympathetic to the material effects of a particular digital technique’ (2016) which has been successfully achieved here.

Both pieces focusing directly on the differences and similarities between patterns and shapes created by hand and digitally and developing work using marks made when making analogue work and developing them in a digital way were both parts of the design rationale for figures 1 and 2. Figure 2 is most successful against the stated intentions as it combines both hand and digital processes and techniques. It uses digital means to include the digitally manipulated hand rendered marks/textures and enhance the work in a way that wouldn’t be possible by hand to create an analogue aesthetic but with a clean and professional finish. Figure 1 does work to show the differences that can be made between the two processes but achieves less of the stated intentions by being completely analogue.

Similarities between figure 2 and Louise Lockhart’s illustration for The Skinny (figure 3) are evident - in both pieces the production of work leads the aesthetic… The ‘presence of the hand’ (Crow, 2008) is clear through crude shape to suggest haphazardness of the hand and also textures and marks created by hand added to both the pieces in a digital manner. The pieces both share a limited use of colour and it would be interesting to see produced using an analogue means of printing and be screen-printed. Colours have been layered up and a lower opacity has been used

Amy Lea BA Illustration Level 4 2017 OUIL401

to give hints of more information and to build depth in both of the pieces. Where the textures in figure 3 give connotations of a cheap, low budget student life, in figure 2 the only purpose of texture is to add to the analogue, hand rendered aesthetic. In figure 3, a risograph printing method that fuses the analogue and digital techniques together has been used. This fusing of the two has been achieved in a similar way in figure 2 through scanning in the hand rendered marks and textures and working with them on digital programmes to reach an outcome. Through this analysis it is clear that both have similar methodologies.

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Amy Lea BA Illustration Level 4 2017 OUIL401

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Amy Lea BA Illustration Level 4 2017 OUIL401

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