digital
adjective
1.of or relating to a digit
2.resembling a digit or finger
3.having digits or digit-like parts
4.ELECTRONICS of or relating to unit of information that exists in two states only,on and off, as pulses (opposed to analog); binary:digital signals COMPUTERS of or relating to binary data
Macquarie Dictionary
When I first thought about this question, I thought the headline might be ‘Are digital prints art?’. I quickly realised the question was easy to answer. The answer is “yes”, because the word ‘art’ can be so broadly defined that it would certainly encompass digital prints. William Rubin, the director of the Museum of Modern Art in New York was said to have pronounced that there is now ‘no single definition of art’. If there is no single definition of art, there is no basis for excluding digital prints.
However, it is valid to ask the question appearing in the headline. In the constitution of this Association, the objects are stated. The first of these stated objects is to further knowledge and appreciation of the ‘traditions’ of printmaking. The second object is to ‘promote the production … of prints … including … the techniques of etching, engraving, lithography, wood cuts, lino cuts, screen printing and other forms of media used in the art of producing hand printed graphics as well as any other process used by artists when reproduction is an organic component in the production of their work’. Another object is to promote and encourage experimentation in the production of prints ‘as above defined’.
I have noticed in exhibitions of this Association there is sometimes a special prize for digital prints and I have wondered why that is so.
The objects of the Association make it clear that experimentation is encouraged in printmaking. However, the experimentation is to be in the ‘tradition’ of printmaking. This does not mean that artists in this Association should be thinking only in terms of techniques known at some specific moment in time. If that were so, and 1790 were chosen as the date, then lithography would be excluded because Senefelder did not discover the technique until 1796.
However, it strikes me that something is strongly characteristic of the ‘tradition’ of printmaking, even if invented recently (such as the lino cut). That characteristic is human involvement and the resultant variability in the process of generating a print. Printmakers must be both artists and technicians. When a printmaker completes his or her artwork they then become a technician. They prepare the plate or block, ink it up and print.
Whether the work is an etching, engraving, wood cut, lino cut or lithograph (to name a few) the output is characterised by variability. Each print to a greater or lesser degree will differ from other prints and from the original. The variability is brought about by human involvement in the technical process of printing. In an etching it depends on how well one inks up or wipes back the plate. In a lithograph how well the roller is charged.
On the other hand a print produced by an inkjet printer or a laser printer has no human involvement and as a result no variability. An artistic work is produced, but if they are printed on a laser or inkjet printer, human involvement is limited to clicking the print button and taking the prints out of the printer tray. Thousands of prints can be produced with no variation save when the ink cartridge runs low and has to be replaced.
In past PAWA exhibitions there has been no category or prizes for photographs. I think everyone recognises that printing a photograph is not within the ‘tradition’ of printmaking. However, if a photograph is produced via a digital camera and out of an inkjet or laser printer, then it is technically a ‘digital print’.
My conclusion is , that although digital prints can be classified as art, a print which is produced on an inkjet or laser printer is not a print in the tradition of printmaking.
Having thrown that controversial view into the ring, I would be interested to know whether it stimulates any contrary view. I should stress that this is a personal view. It has not yet been discussed at committee level.
In the meantime, happy printmaking.
Chris Pullin – President
PS Accompanying this letter is cartoon which I drew, scanned into a computer and reduced in size on the computer. If I print it out on good quality paper using archival ink, will it be a “digital print”?
PAWA wishes to increase the number and diversity of workshops to be offered to members. The Association has offered a few workshops from time to time and they have been well attended. Unfortunately, only a very small number of PAWA members have been willing or able to donate the time to conduct such workshops.
