Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Filmmaking and Printmaking

Sitting at the editing console and looking at the images going by for the first time is an moment of discovery. The images either confirm or deny the judgements made with a camera. In this sense, the editing moment is a continuation of the impulse to make meaning with images. This waiting period is part of the uncertain and potentially expressive edge that I really am pulled toward. Making a print involves a similar engagement with material. A plate, a matrix is constructed which has the potential image  embedded. The striking of a print confirms or denies the choices made in the making of the image on the plate. In between the making and the seeing are a number of operations which also have the potential to alter the image. Film image can be developed in different ways to emphasize grain or contrast, lightness or darkness.  The same or similar thing is true in making a print. To me this has always been a condition of creating: The image is generated from a combination of experience and intuition. Technical processes can be creatively applied to continue the making of the image. The result is carried forward in an altered or unaltered state to the state of presentation either as a time-based work or as a discreet image as in a print. This description sounds a bit dry compared to the anticipation that is inside the process. There is a guarantee of surprise at each point.