New technologies for 3D realization in Art and Design practice

As digital design technologies become ever more widespread, CAD-CAM, virtual and rapid prototyping techniques are increasingly being exploited by creative practitioners working in areas outside the industrial design and engineering contexts in which these technologies are currently predominantly employed. This review paper aims to critically examine work by artists, craft practitioners, and designer-makers who creatively engage with these new and rapidly emerging technologies and, by doing so, extend their own practice and push at the boundaries of art and design disciplines. Historic precedents for new 3D technologies in the fine and applied arts are identified, and writing by Heidegger, Baudrillard, and Virilio informs the critical review of work by art and design practitioners in sculpture, metalwork, jewellery, and ceramics. The discussion reflects on relationships between art and technology and physical and virtual making, and concludes by pointing to the possibility of new “hybrid” forms of practice which bridge the gap between physical and virtual design worlds. The paper closes by suggesting that the notion of “truth to materials” in the arts and crafts might now be extended to one of “truth to virtual materials”, as practitioners creatively negotiate relationships between digital cause and physical effect

CFPR: The Centre for Fine Print Research Bristol, England

An invited article on the Centre for Fine Print Researc

Collotype Printing Workshop in Taiwan

Collotype is a rare printing technique that enables photos and all kinds of graphic imagery to be reproduced in ink on paper with almost the same degree of detail as a silver gelatine photo print. Dr Paul Thirkell was invited by the Taiwanese National University of the Arts to host a collotype workshop and lecture series for the universities printmaking students and invited guests from the Taiwanese printmaking community. These events took place in February 2009 and this invited article describes the techniques

New Technologies for 3D Realization in Art and Design Practice

Abstract As digital design technologies become ever more widespread, CAD-CAM, virtual and rapid prototyping techniques are increasingly being exploited by creative practitioners working in areas outside the industrial design and engineering contexts in which these technologies are currently predominantly employed. This review paper aims to critically examine work by artists, craft practitioners, and designer-makers who creatively engage with these new and rapidly emerging technologies and, by doing so, extend their own practice and push at the boundaries of art and design disciplines. Historic precedents for new 3D technologies in the fine and applied arts are identified, and writing by Heidegger, Baudrillard, and Virilio informs the critical review of work by art and design practitioners in sculpture, metalwork, jewellery, and ceramics. The discussion reflects on relationships between art and technology and physical and virtual making, and concludes by pointing to the possibility of new “hybrid” forms of practice which bridge the gap between physical and virtual design worlds. The paper closes by suggesting that the notion of “truth to materials” in the arts and crafts might now be extended to one of “truth to virtual materials”, as practitioners creatively negotiate relationships between digital cause and physical effect

A survey of photomechanical prints

Catalogue of an exhibition of a survey of photomechanical prints held at University of the West of England (Bristol), 10 - 20 Oct. 2000

Altered images - digital interpretations inspired by George Cartlidge's portrait tiles

Article on the collaboration between the Stoke City Museum & Art Gallery and the Centre for Fine Print Research at the University of the West of England to revive George Cartlidge's photographic tile process, resulting in an exhibition at the Stoke City Museum and Art Gallery, comparing these with the results of contemporary applications