The craft of print in a digital economy

Invited presentation at the 2nd International Printmaking Symposium. \n \nOver the last 10 years digital hardware and artists’ methods for creating art has significantly changed, evolving and transforming from a top down approach - whereby artists have struggled with an over burdensome technology - to a bottom up approach - whereby artists have the freedom to hack, adapt, modify, subvert ideas. In this digital economy, craft skills, quality, material, colour fidelity and the hand made are still important criteria for assessing the quality of an artwork. Through recent research into novel materials, there is a growing interest in the surface tactility of digital prints and a greater materials engagement with paper and pigment, resulting in in the application of digitally printed decorative finishes to flat surfaces that mimic traditional marks (brush strokes, embossing). However, as screen-based technologies are increasingly a ubiquitous artists’ tool (graphics tablets, iPads), what are the still overlooked issues that require attention that bridges the gap between the hand crafted print and the digital? http://www.snap2012.de/index.html