Baren Digest                 Sunday, 6 May 2001         Volume 15 : Number 1412


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From: Julio.Rodriguez@walgreens.com
Date: Sat, 5 May 2001 20:11:15 -0500
Subject: [Baren 14370] Re: Collaborations 05/05/2001 08:11:06 PM 

David writes:
"....This is a fascinating fascinating subject, and it is a matter of some
considerable regret to me that I just don't have the time/energy to be
able to explore this in more practical ways ..."

While at the Chicago Print fair this past weekend, I had a long chat with
one of the
dealers regarding David's work. The person was quite acquainted with the
work and website but could not understand David "wasting" his talent &
skills away doing reproductions of old prints. It took a bit of effort on
my part to try to explain what I think it's David's motivation and where I
think he sees himself in the big picture. Finally the lady just
said..."well, why does he not just carve and print for other artists
?"....to which I did not have a good reply....

Of course being here at Baren for the past four years and having followed
David's saga during all this time...I would guess that he is just perfectly
happy doing exactly what he is doing.....I don't anticipate a "carver &
printer for hire" sign going up anytime soon at the new Seseragi studio....

Julio



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From: David Bull <davebull@woodblock.com>
Date: Sun, 06 May 2001 11:20:49 +0900
Subject: [Baren 14371] Re: Collaborations 

Julio wrote:
> ... regarding David's work. The person was quite acquainted with the
> work and website but could not understand David "wasting" his talent &
> skills away doing reproductions of old prints. It took a bit of effort on
> my part to try to explain what I think is David's motivation and where I
> think he sees himself in the big picture.

'Big picture'?  Darned if I know ... I learned long ago that what I do
just doesn't 'fit' into any picture ... not over there, nor over here.

Here in Japan, there are any number of foreigners 'doing' old Japanese
culture; in kendo, calligraphy, flower arranging, poetry, playing old
musical instruments, zen, you name it, there is a crowd of foreigners
doing it.  With one huge exception - traditional woodblock prints. 

Before Dave Stones down there in Aichi blows his top at me, I should add
quickly that there _are_ quite a number of them making woodblock prints
of course; but these are all artists working on their _own_ imagery,
using (more or less) traditional techniques in their work. Absolutely
nobody else does what I do, and this is something that still never
ceases to amaze me. Why so many people studying old biwa playing -
happily reproducing endlessly the old songs, but nobody else working on
traditional printmaking - reproducing the old prints?

This isn't a problem for me of course; with no 'competition' around I
sort of have the field to myself! And it tickles my ego to be in a
unique position like this - after all, how many people can claim with
some truth that 'nobody else on this planet can do what I do ...'?

Anyway, to get to the meat of Julio's post:
> Finally the lady just said...
> "Well, why does he not just carve and print for other artists?"....
> to which I did not have a good reply....

There are a couple of reasons why this isn't happening:

First is that I'm _busy_! Just keeping on top of my normal print-making
projects takes all my time. And to quit the work that feeds you to try
something else?  Well, you all know how difficult that is ...

But over and above that reason is something more basic. It's that I
really want to do what _I_ want to do, not what somebody else tells me
to do. In the traditional case, the printer simply acted as the 'arms'
for the designer, moving the baren as necessary to produce the desired
result. That's actually a gross simplification, as any designer who knew
what he was doing would certainly make use of the printer's knowledge
and experience to make the print better. But in the case of a modern
western designer, one with a modern definition of himself (him/her ...)
as the 'creative artist', I as the printer would not be allowed much
input, if any at all.

Whether or not I 'liked' the print that was appearing as we worked would
not be allowed to be a factor. Now that's exactly how the old guys
worked - they had no 'opinions' at all on the work - but I just can't
see myself working that way, at least not on any extended basis. As I
mentioned to some of the people I met over in Canada last summer, it
would be great fun to do some trial printing 'under their supervision',
but the interest for me would simply be in showing them some of the
possibilities inherent in their blocks.

> I don't anticipate a "carver & printer for hire" sign going up 
> anytime soon at the new Seseragi studio....

So Julio is correct with this statement.  But there is more to the story
... (if you've got the patience ...)

Although I myself don't want to be a 'carver & printer for hire', there
are still people working in this craft here in Japan who are ostensibly
in that business. None of them speak English of course, and as the
potential designers over there who may consider this sort of
collaboration don't speak Japanese, it's somewhat difficult to get them
all together.

In recent years, I have been peripherally involved with some such
attempts, with mixed results. Distant and difficult communication has
been the major obstacle, although some sloppy work turned in by some
printers who should have had a bit more pride has been a major factor in
my not pressing ahead with this sort of project. Quite recently though,
I have had the chance to see some work done by _younger_ printers,
people who are keenly interested in what they are doing, and who are
eager to get this sort of living collaborative effort moving again, and
their work has been very promising.

It could go either way from here I think - these efforts could stumble
and fail and turn to nothing, or we could be seeing the beginnings of a
major new breakthrough in the world of woodlblock prints. It happened
before, nearly a hundred years ago, and I see no reason at all that it
couldn't happen again. If enough talented people are willing to turn
their energies (and their investment) in this direction, we could see
some spectacular work come to life ...

Stay tuned ...

Dave


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From: "Bea Gold" <bnj50@earthlink.net>
Date: Sat, 5 May 2001 22:18:06 -0700
Subject: [Baren 14372] Re: April's workshop charset="iso-8859-1" 

I too can attest to April's skills and charms as a moku hanga teacher.  I
also watched her demonstration at Hiromi's and it was terrific.  She loves
the wonderful Japanese papers and shows it in her discussions.  Go and be
with her if you can, you will truly enjoy it!  Bea

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End of Baren Digest v15 #1412
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