(18/03) Irony prints

Having been to the Andy Warhol exhibit I felt a need to replicate the print process as it allows for so much often unpredictable variation in your work. Some facts are known, more paint, the more illegible the text is, but small happy accidents occur which broaden how you originally thought of the work and hopefully encourage new way of thinking.

The subject matter came from me looking at the language used around Alzheimer’s. How the way you are talked to changes as you grow older, that combined with the sympathy that comes with talking to someone that has an irreversible disease, it becomes so sensitive. Yes there is experience and with that respect that comes with years, so a phrase like “live in the moment“ changes as you age. When you are younger it something your aspire to and these directional quotes and motivation seem this cheesy consistency. The irony that comes with these quotes at a later age when the circumstances have change, especially with dementia its almost funny to tell that person live in the moment, when that is all they have.

For the sizing of the print and how many I wanted to produce I settled on Mind over Matter, it has an evenness when stacked which makes the sway I added to mind more jarring.

I completed two different directions, making sure they were the same and readable in both directions.

The initial colour choice and act of carving made it seem almost gory.

I preferred the backwards text for clearer prints, with variation of colour in one print, but the more paint logged prints worked better as forward reading.

I found the red water added causing bleeding print and the long blue fold out to be the most effective. Specifically the blue one because of the almost narrative you get when folding it out, when the phrasing is laughable in the beginning but it gets lighter and more unintelligible. If I had had more time and paint I would have wanted to push the print until you couldn’t read the text, but because of the way you go through it you would Know what the wording is from previous prints but still watch it deteriorate. This is definitely an aspect I will take to my final piece. Whether it is structured like a book in order to convey narrative and time forcing the audience to view it in that order so the experience is built in. Or a video or deteriorating object in the exhibition space.