OUGD601 / COP3 / List of Illustrations

Fig. 1 War is Over - Imagex - 2015 - http://www.dafont.com/war-is-over.font

Fig. 2 Levi's 501® CT - Levi's - 2015 - http://lsco.scene7.com/is/image/lsco/Levi/clothing/181730043-front-pdp.jpg?$1330x800main$

Fig. 3 Fender 60th Anniversary 1954 Heavy Relic® Stratocaster® - Fender - 2015 - https://www.stofflermusik.ch/product/fender-60thanniversary1954heavyrelicstratocaster/#

Fig. 4 Brewdog Label Designs - Brewdog - 2014 - https://www.brewdog.com/uploaded_images9/Brewdog_New_Labels-018.jpg

Fig. 5 Why Make Sense - Nick Relph; Matt Cooper - 2015 - https://s3-eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/centaur-wp/creativereview/prod/content/uploads/2015/12/HC-WMS-bundle2.jpg

Fig. 6 The Mod Collective Homeware - Valissa Butterworth - 2012 - http://themodcollective.com.au/The_mod_collective/Gallery.html#7

Fig. 7 Self Portrait (Pink T-shirt) - Chuck Close - 2013 - http://www.magnoliaeditions.com/artworks/self-portrait-pink-t-shirt-2/?filter=Tapestry

Fig. 8 Dense Hand Drawing - Alex Finney - 2015

Fig. 9 Layered Hand Skewed - Alex Finney - 2015

Fig. 10 Calligraphic Print - Alex Finney - 2015

Fig. 11 Machine_Drawn_Article_005 - Alex Finney - 2015

Fig. 12 Machine_Drawn_Article_005 [detail] - Alex Finney - 2015

Fig. 13 Ex Machina [still] - Alex Garland - 2015 - Film Still

OUGD601 / COP3 / Practical Synthesis & Production Method

When using Hybrid Practice as a starting point for a physical body of work, my intentions were to use a machine in an unexpected way in order to produce an end result that raised questions about how it was conceived and produced. I became interested in Freud’s theory of the Uncanny in relation to the visual arts:

‘…the “uncanny” is that class of the terrifying which leads back to something long known to us, once very familiar' Freud, S p1

To produce something that brought this feeling of unease to the viewer led me to focus on producing on one or a series of one off edition prints that would emphasize the auratic qualities of the limited edition and thus immediately heighten the perceived value of the piece. The context of the limited edition undeniably connotes the world of fine art and then in turn to the handmade, the crafted and that, which cannot be produced again.

Concept and the learning of a new craft quickly took precedence over subject matter. Whatever was to be produced must use digital technology alongside a tangible and human process and finish. I was keen to mine the ‘…desire to gain understanding through making.' (Dormer, P p152) that Dormer spoke of in The Culture of Craft and so chose a process that I had no previous experience with; the digital cutter / plotter.

As a tool, the plotter was conceptually suitable to the project for a number of reasons. Firstly, the machine follows – to a degree beyond human application – digital paths that can be manipulated thoroughly in Illustrator. Secondly, while the machine was originally intended for vinyl-cutting purposes, any number of drawing instruments can be used in place of the scalpel to create what is in essence an extremely accurate drawing machine. This crucial addition of pen and ink solved a large problem in that the inconsistency of line and finish could now be achieved in tandem with the accuracy of a plotting tool, thus hitting the mark in terms of true hybrid practice. This overlapping of human skill and digital perfection creates a ‘…'fuzzy logic' [that] makes it possible to loosen up perfection and give an appearance of the differentiation of patten and surface that we have hitherto associated with crafted work.' (Dormer, P p144)

Finally, this was a tool that I would have to learn as a complete beginner, emphasising and realising the ‘tangible reality’ and ‘pride in [one’s] work’ that Sennett alludes to and believes to be crucial factors within craftsmanship in The Craftsman.  

The steep learning curve became apparent 30 minutes into the first attempt at a print. I used an image of my own hand as the subject matter and set the Illustrator Scribble preferences to produce an extremely dense, accurate pen drawing of a hand. The result was a two and a half hour wait watching the machine meticulously plot out a drawing with little-to-no depth but certainly some charm and interest. In a wonderful case of serendipity – aside from the perfectly chiseled, undeniably digitally plotted borders - choosing such a dense Scribble gave the end result a sketch like quality, which was echoed by the way in which the machine went about drawing the piece. Instead of the expected endless line drawing, the plotter moved around the page with no apparent rhyme or reason, mimicking the unpredictability of human craft with eerie accuracy.

For the second attempt, I split the imagery up into three layers. The layers served two purposes; adding depth to the image and allowing colour changes. This layering produced mixed results and allowed human error into the fold. Initially, there were problems with alignment but leaving the machine to continue regardless produced skewed results and proved the necessity of human interaction within the process. 'In other words, when something malfunctions, it doesn't necessarily mean that something is working against it, but rather something is working in tandem with it to maximize its unforeseen potential.' (Gerber, A p10) This second attempt not only highlighted the ‘unforeseen potential of the machine but also saw a shift in my learning of the craft and as a reaction to the first piece; I went for a much lower density of line. This lower density freed up the imagery and allowed each layer to sit atop the other whilst being easily distinguishable.

I was happy with my progress but felt that the chosen subject of hands was limiting the potential of the process and so decided to experiment even further with the Scribble tool. Again, by trial and error I stumbled upon a way in which a regular shape - say for instance a square - could be warped into a beautiful new shape with flowing curves and cutting straight lines. I was inspired to create the kind of beautiful order and ‘regularity’ referenced by Dormer in The Culture of Craft , in which he affirms that:

‘…regularity is as much a human desire as irregularity and some people feel warmly emotional towards the precision of a motor vehicle... as others do towards carved stone or textured pots.' Dormer, J p143

The complex shapes were incredibly easy to make and manipulate once the method was settled on, highlighting the efficient artistic brilliance of the computer when paired with the designer. From here, I began experimenting with choice of stock and drawing implements, most notably the calligraphic marker pen that brought an inconsistency of line, undermining the supposed precision of the method beautifully. Eventually I took the decision to use silver and gold ink onto black stock in order to emphasise the forward-looking, futuristic aspect of the project. The silver ink seems to at once sink into the stock and shimmer beautifully on the surface, recalling Freud’s theory of the Uncanny – in The Uncanny in which he describes an ‘…intellectual uncertainty whether an object is alive or not, and when an in-animate object becomes too much like an animate one.' (Freud, S p9) Whilst of course never actually ‘animating’, the effect is instead unnerving due to the uncertainty as to the amount of human intervention within the creation piece. The lines certainly appear to have been drawn as apposed to printed but the pattern is surely too mechanically accurate and technically difficult to achieve through the human hand. The result is perhaps most evocative of Alex Garland’s 2015 film Ex Machina in which Ai robot AVA produces a series of line-and-dot drawings that appear nuanced and considered enough to evoke human feelings yet contain far too much detail and perfection to have been produced by anything other than a machine. Garland speaks of this uncanny perfection in a 2015 interview with Roger Ebert, ‘Alicia’s performance was meant to mimic the uncanny valley. Rather than perform human actions in a way that looked overtly robotic, she would simply do them perfectly.’ This returns us to the point that Dormer makes wherin 'the model of perfection that technology delivers is not set by machines but by humans.' Dormer, J (p143) To strive for perfection is human, to achieve that perfection is the hallmark of the machine. Machine Drawn Articles is uncanny because of our instinctual knowledge that the hand controls the pen but that the hand could not have produced the imagery we are faced with.

OUGD601 / COP3 / Practical / Group Crit

We had a group crit today for the practical side of our Context of Practice Module. It was good to see where everybody else was up to with their projects!

I brought in all of the mechanised drawings and showed them from the start ( the extremely dense, dark sketch of the hand) to the work yesterday which I'm really happy with.

The group responded really well, which was a relief - it's nice to get confirmation that you're hitting the brief / at least exciting or interesting people.

The group seemed most impressed by the silver ink on black drawings, which I agree are the strongest aesthetically. I have to decide whether they hit the brief as much as the calligraphic ink onto white stock which emphasised the 'mistakes' and inconsistencies of the machine - the fact it does not adjust the pen if the line falters etc.

Billie said something which was interesting... She said they looked very human and in some way warm - which is undoubtedly a strange response to something produced through a machine but is basically the effect I'm trying to convey - some sort of uncanny, uneasy feeling. The drawings should prompt the viewer to debate whether they were hand drawn by a talented individual or produced via a machine. 

This brings me onto my ideas for displaying the pieces... If the images are strong enough to display as artworks (some are, some aren't so far) then this would work in context with questioning the validity of works produced without the human hand. I would say there is little 'skill' in the creation of these images and yet they are beautiful (particularly the silver on black pieces) and I wouldn't like to hand them in as prints with no context or public reaction.

OUGD601 / COP3 / Reading / Freud - 'The Uncanny'

'I will say at once that both courses lead to the same result: the “uncanny” is that class of the terrifying which leads back to something long known to us, once very familiar' p1

'Jentsch believes that a particularly favourable condition for awakening uncanny sensations is created when there is intellectual uncertainty whether an object is alive or not, and when an in-animate object becomes too much like an animate one.'

'when this stage has been left behind the double takes on a different aspect. From having been an assurance of immortality, he becomes the ghastly harbinger of death.' p9

'As, for instance, when one is lost in a forest in high altitudes, caught, we will suppose, by the mountain mist, and when every endeavor to find the marked or familiar path ends again and again in a return to one and the same spot, recognizable by some particular landmark. Or when one wanders about in a dark, strange room, looking for the door or the electric switch, and collides for the hundredth time with the same piece of furniture—a situation which, indeed, has been made irresistibly comic by Mark Twain, through the wild extravagance of his narration' p10

'For instance, we of course attach no importance to the event when we give up a coat and get a cloakroom ticket with the number, say, 62; or when we find that our cabin on board ship is numbered 62. But the impression is altered if two such events, each in itself indifferent, happen close together, if we come across the number 62 several times in a single day, or if we begin to notice that everything which has a number— addresses, hotel-rooms, compartments in railway-trains— always has the same one, or one which at least contains the same figures. We do feel this to be “uncanny,” and unless a man is utterly hardened and proof against the lure of superstition he will be tempted to ascribe a secret meaning to this obstinate recurrence of a number, taking it, perhaps, as an indication of the span of life allotted to him.'

'. In our great 14 cities, placards announce lectures which will tell us how to get into touch with the souls of the departed; and it cannot be denied that many of the most able and penetrating minds among our scientific men have come to the conclusion, especially towards the close of their lives, that a contact of this kind is not utterly impossible. Since practically all of us still think as savages do on this topic, it is no matter for surprise that the primitive fear of the dead is still so strong within us and always ready to come to the surface at any opportunity.' p14

'The uncanny effect of epilepsy and of madness has the same origin. The ordinary person sees in them the workings of forces hitherto unsuspected in his fellow-man but which at the same time he is dimly aware of in a remote corner of his own being.' p14

'Dismembered limbs, a severed head, a hand cut off at the wrist, 21 feet which dance by themselves22 —all these have something peculiarly uncanny about them, especially when, as in the last instance, they prove able to move of themselves in addition.' p14

'To many people the idea of being buried alive while appearing to be dead is the most uncanny thing of all.' p14

Play on the Double and how can I make my machine drawings uncanny through doubling up on human activity and machine copies?

'The somewhat paradoxical result is that in the first place a great deal that is not uncanny in fiction would be so if it happened in real life; and in the second place that there are many more means of creating uncanny effects in fiction than there are in real life.' p18

'The situation is altered as soon as the writer pretends to move in the world of common reality. In this case he accepts all the conditions operating to produce uncanny feelings in real life; and everything that would have an uncanny effect in reality has it in his story. But in this case, too, he can increase his effect and multiply it far beyond what could happen in reality, by bringing about events which never or very rarely happen in fact. He takes advantage, as it were, of our supposedly surmounted superstitiousness; he deceives us into thinking that he is giving us the sober truth, and then after all oversteps the bounds of possibility. We react to his inventions as we should have reacted to real experiences; by the time we have seen through his trick it is already too late and the author has 19 achieved his object; but it must be added that his success is not unalloyed. We retain a feeling of dissatisfaction, a kind of grudge against the attempted deceit...' p18-19

OUGD601 / COP3 / Practical / Huge Progression

I decided today that my practical element was lacking focus because there was no content, no purpose and it was all getting a bit too conceptual.

I want to make:

• A drawing using a machine
• A 3d printed object
• A letterpressed piece (using words)
• A screenprint
• A photograph

I began thinking about subject matter with which I could fit into the concept.

I thought maybe a series of gig posters or event posters with identity created through varying handmade mediums.

I still got the impression that this would be too vague and unfocused, and so thought about what was linking all of these possible pieces.

Handmade > Hands

In front of my nose all along! Everything i'm making and writing about centres around the use of hands in graphic design. I've always got my hands with me so they're easy to use as subject matter in photographs or drawings or 3d scan / print.

Firstly i'm going to use the plotter/etcher with pens/pencils to draw a photograph of some hands.

OUGD601 / COP3 / Context of Practice / Evaluation

Tackling a subject as broad as the one I chose turned out to be an incredibly difficult undertaking. Nonetheless, it's been one that I've thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of.

It was incredibly interesting and fulfilling reading recent works from David Jury and Peter Dormer and seeing distinct similarities in tone and ideas to the works of Walter Benjamin and Herbert Read almost 70 years prior. Though Benjamin and  Read were more interested in the new found reproduction and thus social degradation of existing artworks, all of these writers embodied the same cautious protection of crafts that they each loved.

As I read further into the 2000's - peaking at Lucy Johnston's Digital Handmade - attitudes became undeniably more liberal towards the embrace of technology and crucially the belief that digital technology can produce auratic, humanistic work. I became aware of a real artistic and social movement that I decided to name Hybrid Practice. I noted that Hybrid Practice was the combination of a precision, mechanical process and a crafted, human 'intervention' of some kind. This deep reading and nailing down of the actual term inspired the practical work that was to come.

The practical side of the project is something I'm very happy with. I began with the idea of producing a 3D printed version of my own hand. Eventually, after trouble sorting the logistics of this venture, I decided the whole thing was missing the vital humanistic intervention, instead relying fully on an incredible digital machine. I then moved onto my next possible production method, the Mimaki plotter / cutter. After my first session using the plotter, It seemed like the perfect production method to synthesise with Hybrid Practice. The plotter follows any computer programmed path to minute detail and in place of the normal scalpel blade, a drawing implement can be added. This addition of a drawing implement was the key to bringing the humanistic element to the process. The simple addition of a pen nib gives any final print the appearance reminiscent of human interaction. The trick works because of the context that the pen has, drawing on the historical connotation between pen and hand. Once the final imagery and patterns were created, the final prints were drawn.

After working out kinks and flaws with initial prints was key to really learning what I see as a real craft. I'd define it as a craft because of the knowledge one had to have of the software, and of the ink-flow and the speed. Ironically, all of this came together to then produce very complex imagery that was incredibly quick and easy to create! This speed of creation in relation to the complex final piece references Lucas Maassen's incredible Brainwave Chair, the design of which was created by a simple blink of the designers eye, this brainwave then translated into the final sofa. Maassen describes the process as a tongue in cheek critique of the contemporary designer's increasingly quick and easy workflow.

The final series of prints reference the three chapters of the dissertation, showing synthesis between the two sides of the project:

• The series embodies an entirely contemporary aesthetic chosen by the designer, not dictated by the process, which is very much rooted in contemporary technology. 
• The choice of plotter speed combined with the pen and stock chosen allowed me to enforce mistakes into the prints, showing a designer and producer in charge of their chosen process and not vice versa.
• The final prints are informed by various iterations of Hybrid Practice from across culture, taking in Maassen's critique of a simplified version of 'craft', Relph and Cooper's interaction and intervention of the digital process in their Why Make Sense? project and Valissa Butterworth's conscious decision to leave the marks and scrapes left in the digital processes on her CNC, 3D printed pottery.

OUGD601 / COP3 / Putting the Final Prints in Context

After talking with Simon and Amber over the last week, we all decided the prints needed to be put into some sort of context. 

I feel the fine art nature of the work deserves the space of a gallery. Technically, the prints are drawn - from the hand - as a painting is. 

The final 8 or so prints will be displayed in a white gallery space in slim black frames.

Above, I've mocked up the booklet accompanying the exhibition. The booklet contains copies of each print along with a short statement on the project and key quotes from within the dissertation.

The booklet is not made using the plotter as this would undermine the validity and value of the process.