tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3058180378437995577.post4356341297101945297..comments2023-08-22T06:37:59.379-04:00Comments on nonfigurativephoto: A recent chemigram workshop at ICP with Eva Nikolovadcollinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13211802069564554414noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3058180378437995577.post-83697839844700299702015-11-30T12:16:25.814-05:002015-11-30T12:16:25.814-05:00Oh, thank you Eva for devoting time to teaching ch...Oh, thank you Eva for devoting time to teaching chemigrams.<br />Doug, Rich, Christina and all those out there who are passing on what they know, thanks to you also.<br /><br />I particularly like Figure 7. Deconstructing the grid is an interesting statement, I would like to see more. Nolan Preecehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13098114986008159454noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3058180378437995577.post-527726150581787132015-11-29T13:07:35.563-05:002015-11-29T13:07:35.563-05:00For my chemigram workshops in Virginia City, NV, I...For my chemigram workshops in Virginia City, NV, I focus mostly on the three different paper types – silver bromide, silver chloride and silver chlorobromide. Each paper surface, age and chemical makeup contribute to entirely different visual effects. Resists are secondary and I offer the student a range of about ten to explore for during and after the workshop. I provide everything, including a packet of 15 different papers marked on the back with a symbol to identify the type of paper, i.e. (O) for Oriental. Surface is identified with J, G, R, N and so on. The third, and perhaps the most imaginative, is the method of application of each particular resist. Close observation of the different variables add to the database, with careful note taking the results from each workshop can then be passed on to the next. I cover lumens (to show how chemigrams can be used with another process); direct chemistry; soft resists; hard resists (I prepare most hard resists for the student outdoors with a respirator); and wet hard resists are demonstrated near a window of our very well ventilated large studio. We also discuss possible combinations with other antique photo processes.Nolan Preecehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13098114986008159454noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3058180378437995577.post-8424017115540052015-11-29T10:14:33.574-05:002015-11-29T10:14:33.574-05:005-6 weeks would be a wonderful luxury. When I shar...5-6 weeks would be a wonderful luxury. When I share the process I have a "gang lab" session of 3 hours after a 3-hr lecture the same week. Since 4 prints are due for the assignment, it encourages quick work, and soft resists are just that, with a tendency towards horror vacui.<br /> I have thought of extending a process longer to encourage more virtuosity, but at least two of my 15 students are doing chemigrams for their final project (8-10 prints due Dec 11) and I am excited to see what they discover. <br /> The next step is to REALLY commit, and that takes years. I remember making that commitment to gum in graduate school. For two years that's what I did (some mordançage, too) and that's when I really understood it. I hope to do this soon with the chemigram now that I have finished writing the Focal Press gum book...writing always takes time away from doing. BTW my favorite is Figure 1.Christina Z. Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01519883512140961429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3058180378437995577.post-14589807821056183512015-11-28T17:53:53.384-05:002015-11-28T17:53:53.384-05:00When I teach a 5-6 week chemigram class I do exact...When I teach a 5-6 week chemigram class I do exactly as you suggest – limit the options for each session so that there is more time to explore the fundamentals Pierre reminds us of, as well as the unique properties of various resists themselves (permeability, solubility, granularity, etc, etc.) and their interaction with the those foundational parameters. However in these short, intense workshops like the one at ICP that Doug was kind enough to invite me to, where students have no more than 6 hours of work time in which to go from never having heard of a chemigram to tackling the choices that any artist grapples with, I believe the horror vaccui often evident in beginners’ works has more to do with trying out options against a fast-ticking clock rather than an aesthetic direction.Evanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3058180378437995577.post-91306683958092221462015-11-28T11:01:20.940-05:002015-11-28T11:01:20.940-05:00Who am I to add to the masters of the chemigram, b...Who am I to add to the masters of the chemigram, but I had two thoughts: I think it may be fun practice for a student to stick with one resist during a session to understand the multiple effects of time, temperature, thickness, duration, because all of these are important. However, the choice of resist influences those effects and is interdependent in my limited experience—think oil vs hummus. Oil produces an instant chemigram whereas hummus takes more time to disintegrate. <br /> Two, I think space is an important one in a chemigram, to not fill up every inch with pattern or design or even color. It is easy for a beginning chemigrammist to have horror vacui; developing the sense of when enough is enough comes with much practice. However, when I have chosen not to peel off the resist, but leave some of the hard resist on the paper, even with a final fix it has eventually turned gray underneath, so either the eventual morphing of color should be taken into account, or the fixing has to be carried out way longer and stronger than normal to get through the paper base to the resist covered emulsion.<br />Christina Z. Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01519883512140961429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3058180378437995577.post-66981683759447496132015-11-28T08:42:38.816-05:002015-11-28T08:42:38.816-05:00Pierre is absolutely right that ideas of thickness...Pierre is absolutely right that ideas of thickness, dilution, duration, temperature and so forth are crucial, and we do indeed always present them as such to students. Choice of resist is only one among a myriad of others available to the artist - no more nor less important, as it's one's intent that determines which set of variables one chooses to manipulate. No parameter is exclusive of others but yes, things can get complicated, and the option of going back to basics is always a good one. The practice of incorporating a variety of substances as resists in these beginner workshops serves to introduce the novice to the very concept of a resist as something, anything that has suitable properties, rather than as an item on a shortlist of prescribed materials. It encourages a mindset of openness and experimentation and yes, it is indeed fun - never to be underestimated when teaching.Evanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3058180378437995577.post-91377043483566067942015-11-28T00:16:42.053-05:002015-11-28T00:16:42.053-05:00I'm recusing myself Mike, in this wealth of in...I'm recusing myself Mike, in this wealth of invention. With you and Pierre both weighing in, it looks like 4 and 7 are the winners!dcollinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13211802069564554414noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3058180378437995577.post-41232802257009234862015-11-27T23:32:56.346-05:002015-11-27T23:32:56.346-05:00Pierre you old coot, you've skewered our wonde...Pierre you old coot, you've skewered our wonderful and productive obsession with resists; it's a long-overdue corrective and you're probably right. There's nothing left now but to return to the basic modulations of darkroom practice.<br /><br />Still, we don't want completely to throw out the baby with the bathwater. It must be acknowledged and accepted that a lot has been gained in recent years, in this making of chemigrams to which we all are committed, by exploiting the varying effects of resist, paper, developer chemistry, toner, even the chemistry of chromoskedasia, even, in an arte povera sense, abrasion of the emulsion. Key aspects of this are contained in Eva's process. We're thankful for her innovations.dcollinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13211802069564554414noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3058180378437995577.post-88376530266478286562015-11-27T18:17:45.807-05:002015-11-27T18:17:45.807-05:00Another excellent piece of writing, making these w...Another excellent piece of writing, making these wonderful processes even more engaging. Images 4 and 7 are my definite favourites!Michael Jacksonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00922655439116660074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3058180378437995577.post-82717580694761175932015-11-25T23:53:25.358-05:002015-11-25T23:53:25.358-05:00Bravo to Eva for her very eclectic workshop. If I...Bravo to Eva for her very eclectic workshop. If I may be allowed a remark, I find it regrettable that in these workshops one might come away thinking the most important parameter in a chemigram is the choice of resist. Here, we see before us a table with gels, peanut butter, glue, lipstick, etc. It's fun, but it seems to me the most important parameters are the basic ideas of thickness, dilution, duration, temperature and so forth. In other words more Malevich, less Pollock. Figure 7 shows what I mean: we needn't wait until all the resist detaches. This chemigram breathes. Ditto for figures 4 and 8.Pierre Cordiernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3058180378437995577.post-31228463037434432632015-11-14T20:38:10.466-05:002015-11-14T20:38:10.466-05:00Beautiful images and beautiful writing, as always....Beautiful images and beautiful writing, as always...<br />Paul Kleinmannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3058180378437995577.post-37220899379759467082015-11-14T17:26:09.540-05:002015-11-14T17:26:09.540-05:00Figure 12, in my opinion, is as sweet an image as ...Figure 12, in my opinion, is as sweet an image as you could want. I admire the curiosity and courage of these participants, trying things, unafraid of what may happen. It seems that is the secret to success in this process.Steve Brandesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3058180378437995577.post-30785932429509465422015-11-14T11:48:59.248-05:002015-11-14T11:48:59.248-05:00It’s a joy to share the classroom with one’s forme...It’s a joy to share the classroom with one’s former teacher, and a joy to work with a spirited and adventurous group which as the results above testify, were completely undaunted by all the sticky, greasy goop we threw their way. I’m always happy to share my discoveries and hope that others will make them their own – that’s the chemigram tradition passed down to me and many others by Doug, which strives to enlarge our community, so that we can have a dialogue about chemigrams that moves beyond their exoticism.Evanoreply@blogger.com