Research design / methods

The objective of ‘Born Digital – New materialities’ was to explore the practice of peer printmakers to detect markers of transition between traditional and new forms of printmaking. It also sought to examine notions of materiality set against new concepts of electronic consumption for the printmaking 2.0 object, where questions of allocation and signature have arisen within the electronic distribution of digitally mediated prints. Consequently questions of permanence, materiality, authenticity, authorisation and allocation set against a possible dialectic of physical and de-materialised practice were explored. In curating this exchange, social network platforms were used to coordinate, track and develop meaningful links with the artists. It is significant that through these ‘affinity spaces’ 7, artistic collaboration was engendered through de-materialised practice over time zones and distance.  
Therefore the aim of  ‘Born Digital - New materialities’ was to collate and curate a digitally mediated exchange survey of contemporary ‘print’ developed through digital mediation for digital exhibition, publication and editioning.  In addition to the collection and curation of a body of digitally mediated printmaking practice the study was designed to explore specific questions surrounding the three areas or ‘topoi’ within digitally mediated printmaking of ‘Emergent forms’, ‘Materiality & signature’ and ‘Modes of consumption’ through direct survey amongst contributing peer practitioners.

 

Based upon both invitation and an open call for the contribution of ‘born digital’ works founded in concepts of Web2.0, Open Source and Creative Commons, participants  - established practitioners and/or ‘Citizen practioner’(s)15 were invited to author, submit and exchange digitally mediated print works which in turn would be re-presented in the format of an on-line and/or physical exposition. The invitation / call papers were extended through the medium of public and private networks, affinity spaces, supported through a dedicated web site containing additional materials and illustrations. Submissions were to be digitally mediated ‘prints’ originated by participants, who will were asked to provide a high-resolution digital image(s) (20cm2 maximum 10cm2minimum @ 300ppi). Participants were also asked to complete a submission / consignment form / questionnaire, which incorporated a structure for gathering a base meta-data set from each participant including: -


Artist Background: for example; biography, artist’s statement, curriculum vitae, rationale, related works, digital ethos, directions, skills.


Positional statement on the adoption of technology: in which the participant can express their thoughts, be they for the potential of new mediums or their worries and/or fears about them.

 

Participants were also asked to place themselves upon a scale derived from the ‘Innovation adoption curve for Digital Printmaking (Thompson, 2010 after Rogers, 1962) see Figure 3.

Innovator

a member of the avant-garde a cutting edge artist who develops new forms of process and practice in digitally produced / mediated printmaking / print art.    
Early Adopter

an opinion leader within digital printmaking I ‘try out new ideas, but in a careful way’.    
Early Majority

‘careful but accepting change more quickly than the average’ I have adopted technology early and integrated it within my printmaking practice.    
Late Majority

I am cautious of new ideas and technology an only use them when the majority of my peers are doing so as well.    
Late Adopter

a traditional person ‘caring for the ‘old ways’, critical towards new ideas and only accept them if they have become mainstream or even tradition.    
(Definitions and portions of text based upon ROGERS, E. M. 1962. Diffusion of innovations, New York [u.a.], The Free Pr. [u.a.].)


Artistic Context of the Artwork:  concerning contextual, locations, source materials etc.


Process Inputs: concerning digital origination of the image


Process Outputs: concerning information required for the instantiation / editioning of work.  

Digitally mediated collaborative practice was then employed to edition the prints to electronic surfaces as a digitally mediated print portfolio. Follow up surveys were undertaken with participants as a primary research mechanism to further ascertain their perceptions and positions in relation to their practice within the following contexts:


Their artistic practice


The technological aspects of their practice


The relationship of traditional and digital methods within their practice and any subsequent transition to new forms


The concept of the non-physical print New conceptions of signature


Experiences of collaboration and curation through the digital


Upon completion of this research activity, all participants were given the opportunity to download (under creative commons 3.0 license) a copy of the portfolio in Adobe Acrobat and eBook formats, whilst a publicly accessible web version was also published.