New lead monoprints and an air rifle

I've made another lead plate, with a braille version of a Heidegger quote 'Tell me how you read and I will tell you who you are'

Initially I inked the smooth lead and placed paper over it with the braille mock up on top. I shot through into the lead again with lead shot in the air rifle. The lead is 150cms long by 24cms wide.

 Some of the shots actually went right through the lead and dented the wooden floor.

The top sheets came off and left the monoprint, some with the pellets still stuck in the holes in the paper. I think this one particularly shows the whole conceal and reveal philosophy of Heidegger.

The second print form this roll, I inked and hand printed. The first one was the most enjoyable print I have made so far, and nearly the most stressful, the layers of texture from just a simple monoprint are great. I had no idea what these prints would come out like, but they will fit really well with the rest of the prints and books for the show.

The lead also looked amazing so I took some photographs while the ink was wet and then when the lead was cleaned.

Nearing show completion - another lead book

I decided to make another book with the lead covers that turned out to be too small for the first book. This time not a pull out concertina, just a folded book. I wanted to bring back some of the excitement I had using original braille paper in my initial research experiments so I glued braille paper (the lovely buff coloured stuff) to the sheets I was to print on and re ran the original 'Point Blank Pages' extended print but singularly.

Unfortunately the pages cockled  and no amount of flattening, ironing or being cross uncockled them.

Printing on them helped but sadly they are not perfect, the braille paper does however give another dimension to both the colour / shade and also to the texture.

These are the front and back of the book, indented with lead pellets from the front and raised on the back.

This book will be fully opened for the first time at the show, I think if I open and close the pages too often they will eventually break. This and the last book will stand as much as a piece of sculpture as of a book. The lead covers will make it difficult to handle and dangerous to handle without gloves.

Health and Safety procedures and health risks in journal.

Lead book with concertina pages - Artist's Books

I reprinted the full second set of collagraph plates on individual pieces of paper (as printing them on one long roll took hours and had a big chance of major disaster half way through) and attached them all together with paper tabs including tabs on the first and last page to attach them into the book- I googled how to do this as I had never made a concertina this big before.

 This concertina now measures 3.5 metres like the long prints.

What I didn't realise was that the second set of collagraphs are slightly bigger than the first set and therefore when I folded them ready for the covers the concertina was too big and I would have had to catch every page in the binding and not be able to pull out the concertina from the covers.

As you can see the covers only overlap the book block by about 0.5cm.

New covers please!!!

Next problem was that I only had one piece of lead left the right size to make a cover for the book block so I had to improvise with grey board, graphite and varnish. Remake both covers, the front one much simpler.

The covers are connected by brass pillars through back board, front and back tabs, 2 sheets of glassine to protect the print from the lead and a graphited wood block to provide support.

I haven't opened the book yet, it's virgin opening will be at the show. In Heidegger's phenomenological context, the visual language (originating in braille) discloses concealed meaning, and the opening of the book discloses or 'un-conceals' where the narrative meaning is held in concealment. Un-concealment reveals 'presenced' truth of Being (alethia).

further......lead book covers and lots of ink

I finally finished the second set of collagraph plates and the second 3.5metre print.

This piece is the braille version of a Martin Heidegger quote 'Man acts as though he were the shaper and master of language, while in fact language remains the master of man.'

Again I'm very pleased with the result!

I also made the lead covers today for the book and took prints from them too.

I shot two lead plates together with the air rifle this is the back plate, the front has the pellets embedded in it.
Inked up they were quite stunning!

....and the front cover hand printed

I love the rich gloopy nature of the ink with the delicate print of the pellet edges. Shot and printed leaves me with little control over how it comes out and I think this work is better for it, otherwise I would have contrived this to be neater, smoother and much more controlled.

I love print!