Chromatic fields: print media and the artist book

Duncan Bullen

Research output: Chapter in Book/Conference proceeding with ISSN or ISBNConference contribution with ISSN or ISBNpeer-review

Abstract

This paper was given at IMPACT 7 International Multi Disciplinary Printmaking: Intersections and Counterpoints conference organised and hosted by MONASH University, Melbourne, Australia. The paper is due to be published by Monash University Publishing. Bullen’s research interests centre around drawing as a form of meditative inquiry into colour as light, silence, time and perception, in which print media and the ‘artist’ book have a pivotal position. In this practice drawing (and printmaking as an extension of drawing) is reduced to the fundamental activity of making one mark after another, in both intuitive and predetermined sequences. In recent drawings colour is activated by a concentrated series of dots (almost like pixels in a digitised image) of colour pencil. When viewed from a distance, they dissolve, producing a fluctuating surface of indeterminate colour. This commentary focuses on a collaborative project between Bullen and the composer Jamie Crofts, which centres on a limited edition book-work which seeks to assimilate different disciplines, in this case, drawing, music and print media, as a means to examine aural and visual liminality. The project investigates the relationship between composition, notation, drawing, music and silence, as well as the importance of accuracy and inaccuracy of the human hand, resulting in fluctuations in touch and pulse. A shared interest in repetition and near – repetition allows for the possibility of variable permutation of small units, in which the interactive act of opening and turning pages adds a sequential and temporal dimension. The book incorporates screen-printed score, image, and contains a CD of mp3s and data. The paper will also discuss the nature of a collaborative practice between artist and composer, and artist/composer and printer/designer. It also addresses a concern to positioni print as an extension of drawing, and as a means of extending its field through the vehicle of the artist’s book and collaborative practice. Bullen’s reductive abstraction invites a slowing down of visual perception and the attentive nature of compositional processes connect to ideas of contemplative practice that run counter to a society fixated by speed.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationIMPACT 7 International Multi Disciplinary Printmaking: Intersections and Counterpoints Conference
Publication statusPublished - 2012
EventIMPACT 7 International Multi Disciplinary Printmaking: Intersections and Counterpoints Conference - MONASH University, Melbourne, Australia
Duration: 1 Jan 2012 → …

Conference

ConferenceIMPACT 7 International Multi Disciplinary Printmaking: Intersections and Counterpoints Conference
Period1/01/12 → …

Keywords

  • Printmaking
  • Print Media
  • Artist Books

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