collage works of layers of japanese hand-made paper produced as print editions

Leonardo

Collage Works of Layers of Japanese Hand-Made Paper Produced as Print EditionsAuthor(s): Albert GarrettSource: Leonardo, Vol. 7, No. 1 (Winter, 1974), pp. 37-39Published by: The MIT PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1572736 .

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Leonardo, Vol. 7, pp. 37-39. Pergamon Press 1974. Printed in Great Britain

COLLAGE WORKS OF LAYERS OF JAPANESE HAND-MADE PAPER PRODUCED AS PRINT EDITIONS

Albert Garrett*

1. Introduction

There is a big difference between reading a technical paper and listening to a scientist expounding its contents. The nuances and inflection of speech, the timbre of the voice, the movements of the eyes and head, giving emphasis and modulation, cannot be recorded in a printed text. When I listened to W. D. Wright delivering the first Newton Lecture entitled 'The Rays Are Not Coloured' [1] at Imperial Col- lege, London in April 1963, I had at that time no notion that his analysis of the colour changes resulting from a change of viewing angle of the South American Morpho butterfly wing would lead me into the development of a means of artistic expression that may not have been used before.

At one viewing angle of the wing, iridescent blue is seen; at other angles, blue-green, violet and a velvety brown [2]. These colour changes arise from the sub-layer absorption, reflection, refraction, diffraction and interference of light passing through a very complex three-dimensional wing structure. In his analysis of the structure, three of Wright's statements are very pertinent to my theme: (a) 'A low-power microscope objective reveals a series of scales arranged in rows rather like the wooden shingles that one sees sometimes on country cot- tages.' (b) 'A highpower microscope objective shows that each scale is covered by an array of fine ribs spaced apart by only one or two thousandths of a millimetre.' (c) 'A diffraction phenomenon in which the ribs are acting as a reflection grating spreading the light out into a band, corresponding to the variation of the diffraction angle with wavelength.' When the angle of viewing the wing is changed, the eye picks up different portions of the spectrum emitted from the complex three- dimensional wing structure.

I later noticed in my studio various shades of plain hand-made Japanese papers, which I use for engraving, lying and overlapping on a table directly under an incandescent lamp with a tungsten filament. The light of the lamp gave sharp shadows within the layers of the paper, caused by the light

* Artist living at 10 Sunningdale Avenue, Eastcote, Ruislip, Middlesex, HA4 9SR, England. (Received 7 December 1972.)

beam moving through the paper fibre structure. At this point I remembered the phenomenon that snow does not appear completely white until a minimum thickness of it is on a surface. The sensation of the true white of snow is produced in daylight only when essentially all of the incident light is reflected from the snow as diffused light to the eye. A minimum thickness is required to ensure that light does not reach the supporting surface and reflect from the surface substantially all incident light giving rise to the sensation of whiteness.

My interest in these Japanese papers eventually led to my introduction to multilength fibre types of coloured, semi-transluscent and textured papers some of which have coloured patterns derived from several overlaid fibre patterns. Single sheets of most of these papers are made up of two, three and sometimes four layers of different fibres producing various patterns. All of them have a silk-like surface. While viewing such papers on the counter of my engraving materials supplier (T. N. Lawrence and Son, Bleeding Heart Yard, Greville Street, London, E.C.1.), I noticed that there are design possibilities when they are superposed. I was puzzled at the time by the fact that when two of these sheets with different hues or patterns of different hues were superposed, the resultant colours were different from what one would expect from simple subtractive colour mixing. However, the concept of sublayer reflection and refraction began to dawn on me, especially when I found that changes were effected with the addition of each succeeding sheet. I then began to associate these observations with the colour changes in the wing of the Morpho butterfly described by Wright. In the case of the butterfly wing, however, the scales themselves are colourless and the colour arises from the optical effects associated with the very fine regular structure within the ribs running across the scales. This structure has a regular spacing comparable in dimension to that of the wavelength of light.

Hand-made Japanese papers are made from a wide range of fibres from plants and trees forming a random open-network structure. Some processed fibres are dyed. In others the natural chlorophyll is allowed to remain as a self-colouring agent. The

37



Albert Garrett

three-dimensional structure of the paper and the plant fibre structure itself affect the passage of light in a manner apparently similar to that of the butterfly wing, although in practice the optical processes are rather different. Another mechanism, apparently also different from that obtaining in the wing that yields different colours, each with a dominant wavelength, for different angles of viewing is found in the case of paint films containing platelets of metallic pigments [3].

An integral part of colour is value, the shadow element or greyness that is present when two or more wavelengths of light are mixed. The shadow element of colour also gives a sensation of texture as regards both its scale and its depth. It is possible that a paper with a new kind of structure will produce a sensation of texture that cannot be produced by applying paint. These considerations gave me some ideas on the possible artistic use of superposed sheets of paper with complex fibre structures.

2. Development of my technique

A difficult problem that I encountered in the use of delicate silk-like handmade Japanese papers was the selection of a suitable adhesive. It was important that the adhesive did not interfere with colour

effects produced by the superposed sheets and was invisible. Many adhesives containing colouring matter were not usable because they stained the paper and others, while colourless, were either insufficiently adhesive or did not possess the required strength, elasticity and permanency.

The polyvinyl acetate adhesive Dufix (made by Imperial Chemical Industries (I.C.I.)) met my specifications [4]. During preparation of the collage the minimum amount of adhesive should be used to minimize wrinkling due to different rates of drying between the sheets. The layers of adhesive tend to act as reflecting surfaces, changing the visual effects of a work by reflecting light from the surroundings. This effect can be exploited for artistic purposes. I also found that the thickness of the adhesive layer varies colour intensities of the fibres and that the manner of applying the adhesive, by spraying, knife, brush or the fingers, produces different effects as regards both colour and texture. Very coarse papers can end up appearing very fine and delicate in texture.

The collage technique I use (I call it a 'layering technique') starts generally with a plain sheet having an open structure and, hence a high degree of transparency. Layering then proceeds by taking the main sheet and gluing other sheets or cut out or torn pieces of paper above and below it. Layers of paper vary the feeling of depth and iridescence of the

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: !': ''? ": '.. .. ': ::.- I. .,~ ~ l!~?:.'ii:v:~,:ii~:,:'.~i~:.',,~:...... .... :.;jl~?I, , . ..._... ...... Fig. 1. 'Poised, No. 2', edition of 19, collage, 36 x 24 in, Fig. 2. 'Poised, No. 3', edition of 19, collage, 36 x 24 in,

1970. 1970.

38



Collage Works of Layers of Japanese Hand-made Paper Produced as Print Editions

colours of the fibres and printed patterns. When the collage stage is completed, I add a backing sheet. A black or dark backing sheet reduces the reflection of light and a white one increases it. This is an application of the thickness or the whiteness of snow phenomenon. Albers describes some aspect of the thickness of snow phenomenon in his book Interaction of Color [5]. Some of the fallacies of his understanding of colour are discussed in a review of his book by Arthur Karp in Leonardo [6].

3. Use of the technique for production of editions of a work

An edition of prints or multiples can be successful only when using techniques that give repeatability and precision of register. Naturally, it is easy to repeat shapes cut by scissors. But the Japanese papers have an additional merit: they can be torn with a high degree of precision. One can obtain readily a sharp-edge or a soft-line effect with them. Registering sheets and the pieces of paper can be done by the same methods of registering blocks for printing. Trial prints must be made up to determine each layering move in strict order from first to last. These prints, generally referred to as artists' proofs are also necessary to decide on the first numbered copy of the edition run. Some proofs are considered separate works in their own rights.

In the 'Poised' series (Figs. 1 to 3) (Fig. 4, cf. colour plate), which now consists of eleven different editions, I set out to develop a serial theme based on cut out egg-shaped forms. These forms were used to give a feeling of tension through opposition with the structure and patterns of the papers. As I pointed out, each sheet had been made with either coloured stripes or repeating designs, in addition to the coloured fibres, that varied slightly. These aspects of the paper fascinated me and led me to exploit them through the opposition to them of the cut out egg-shaped forms. The wide variation within each sheet and from one sheet to another accounted for the principal difference between each example comprising an edition. The basic type of a paper, of course, remained constant through an edition. My main concern in these works is the combination of a micro-structure of random character with clearly defined oval shapes, the sheets of paper giving to an edition a variety of visual experiences. The print technique I have adopted, where the final work results from the superposition of several layers of paper, permits me to develop a picture piecemeal by moving each layer in its plane.

The production secrets of each Japanese paper is held by the family or individuals who make them. When the individual or family dies, the paper's

~ L.^ . ...

Fig. 3. 'Poised, No. 11', edition of 15, collage, 36 x 24 in, 1972.

secrets may be lost. During the three years of my work with these remarkable papers, four of them have become unavailable. Just a note of caution, before you commit yourself to making an edition of the kind I have described, make sure that you have the quantity of papers required for it.

I wish to thank Professor W. D. Wright for the comments and suggestions he made on my manu- script.

References

1. W. D. Wright, The Rays Are Not Coloured (London: Adam Hilger, 1967).

2. H. Simon, The Splendor of Iridescence (New York: Dodd, Mead and Co., 1971).

3. W. D. Wright, The Measurement of Colour (London: Adam Hilger, 1944).

4. A. Garrett, Hand-made Japanese Paper Collage, Exhibition Catalogue (London: Mall Galleries 1972).

5. J. Albers, Interaction of Color (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1971).

6. A. Karp, review of Interaction of Color by J. Albers, Books, Leonardo 6, 272 (1973).

39

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Top left: Albert Garrett. 'Poised, No. 7', edition of ten, collage, 36 x 24 in., 1971. (Fig. 4, cf. page 39.)

Top right: Yo Ichikawa. 'Livre d'heures', acrylic on plywood, 75 x 75 cm., 1971. (Fig. 5, cf. page 10.)

Bottom left: Joanne Grant Petersen. (Qn the left) 'Light Environs' fluorescent tubes, white translucent Plexiglas, Formica, columns 8 ft. x 4 x 4 in., base surface 15 x 19 ft., 1971-72. (On the right) 'Lux, I', fluorescent tubes, Formica, conduit pipe, 8-5 ft. high, 28 x 28 in. base,

1971-72. (cf. page 16.)

Bottom right: M. Sabri. 'Air-02. 4N2' oil on canvas, 130 x 130 cm., 1971. (Fig. 5, cf. page 55.)

[facing p. 18]




1971-72. (cf. page 16.)


[facing p. 18]




1971-72. (cf. page 16.)


[facing p. 18]




1971-72. (cf. page 16.)


[facing p. 18]



collage works of layers of japanese hand-made paper produced as print editions

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