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October 22, 2006
aocc 2006 review
by gl. at 11:25 pm
yesterday i attended the all oregon calligrapher's conference. we packed a lot into 8 hours, so this will be a long post. :)
aocc general
i had a good time, especially because sven, kristen, colleen & rick also came. but it was too short! alas, we were up an hour early to volunteer and there was surprisingly little for us to do: i ran interference on arrivals to direct them past the harried 4x4 exhibitors, added a couple of signs here & there, did some random errands. i was also surprised to discover the vendors weren't sellilng anything i couldn't live without, though i was oft tempted. (there was a beautiful green box with a stone and a feather, though, that i regret not getting.)
aocc exhibits
the most disappointing thing about aocc was the 4x4 and "show & share" exhibits. it was probably so disappointing because i had been looking forward to it, but there were no signs, no statement or context, and many pieces had been stapled to the backing! *wince* (and not very carefully, either. thank god my piece was already mounted!) some nice pieces, and i do so love the small format, but the presentation was appalling.
denis brown keynote: dangerous lines
after introductions and welcomes and applause, denis spoke about calligraphy. with a topic like "dangerous lines" i had hoped for more rebellion and maybe even a call to action, like the lecture michael & i attended by charles pearce. still, he said many things worth noting:
"all calligraphy is digital, as it's made by the hand." manual's root is "hand" in latin and digital's root is "finger," so how did they become such disparate concepts?
calligraphy is "recording in ink a performance of movements. if you're hesitant when you write, it shows. if you're miserable, it shows."
the difference between an educator and an instructor: educe=draw out of, instruct=put into. this reminds me of when i used to work w/ faculty: my default blanket term when writing documentation was "instructor" because it was the least offensive. every other term had a status associated with it and was guaranteed to make somebody mad.
he made an interesting parallel between art & video game evolution: pac man included a 2d grid, knots, dots & little monsters, just like early illumination; now we have 3d virtual reality rendered games, which are sort of like the renaissance discovery of perspective & reality.
he recommends mitchells at tiny sizes
slunk vellum: the smoother vellum of a stillborn calf, "a calf that died before it was born. a real trajedy. the most innocent thing."
to get oil paints onto paper, write in ink first, then seal w/ pva; layer oil paints over it and then scraffito over the lettering to reveal it.
"the way painting has been liberated by photography," calligraphy can be liberated by printing, allowing it to be more complex, illegible, or expressive.
polyrhythmic calligraphy vs monorhythmic calligraphy: most western writing is monorhythmic, relying on strong downstrokes and repetitive combinations. monorhythmic is techno: a strong, driving, easy beat. in contrast, polyrhythmic is jazz, classical, west african drums: more complex, multiple beats, simultaneous threads. different letters can look different depending on their context, with a desire to create counterrhythms & reverse directions.
he is inspired by bar codes, a rhythmic pattern like italic. "what the bar code lacks is a sense of spirituality."
the interplay between traditional & expressive calligraphy is my favorite. rathering than favouring one over the other, i prefer a combination. he compared a 6th century gospel of st. john that had an elaborate system of abbreviations to sms text messaging.
"you don't want to hear that someone is 'working' the violin. you want to hear them play with it."
this didn't happen during his keynote, but i noticed while he was there that the prints denis has for sale are remarkably fine. i'm fairly critical of self-printed calligraphy, which tends to be grainy, and even some commercial giclee prints are disappointing. but i was impressed: even under a magnifying glass i couldn't discern a dot pattern & the colors seemed true. if i ever start printing my own work, i want to use this system, so according to his website, he uses "an Epson 2100 using Epson’s 7-colour UltraChrome ink system at 2880 x 1440 dpi on Epson acid free watercolour paper, a combination to ensure long lasting quality. Wilhelm Imaging Research (www.wilhelm-research.com), suggest prints using this combination of ink and media will last for over 90 years without appreciable fading , based on indoor display framed under glass. Dark Storage Stability Rating at 73°F/50%RH is indicated to last over 200 years. The detail is super fine at this resolution, being almost 10 times finer than normal commercial printing."
lunch
the lunches were fairly tasty for salads. sven got pushed into line by the irrepressible marti dawkins, who told him they were "merging." the psc meetings are held waaaay over in beaverton, but a guy sitting at my table wanted to start an east-side group, and sven & i nudged him into it. i grabbed meri and we asked her to make an announcement before he could lose his nerve. a small flood of gresham calligraphers immediately signed up. the last i saw he was happily chatting up the teachers at the david douglas school district. :) the creative advocates strikes again!
jaki svaren: concentric italic
kristen thought jaki had a gentle energy. alas, we didn't have much time to actually do italic because we were busy breathing, stretching and meditating. "sipping on a cup of green tea, i stop the war." a very interesting thing i am glad to know is that 5 degrees, the usual italic slant, is the slant of a diagonal line drawn between the inner and outer edge of a broad-edged line. she gave us homemade visors with our names on them to keep out the glare of the fluorescent lighting. as she reminded us of the small miracles of breathing and sound, a white horse walked past our windows.
denis brown: book of kells
ah, michaelmas, you would have really liked this session! first we actually looked at the cathach, the book of darrow, and the lindisfarne gospels before getting to the book of kells.
looking at manuscripts almost always makes you feel better about your own calligraphy: they are beautiful, but the slant, spacing & sizes are often inconsistent, and monks would often forget letters or words and tack them on in unusual or weird ways. also, "the book of kells is like the mona lisa of its time, but it's also the simpsons," he said, pointing out the illuminations containing drunk monks & men pulling on each other's beards.
interesting random fact: he says the cathach was the first copyright case ruling. in 7th century AD: "to every cow its calf, to every book its copy." st. columkille apparently borrowed a book from anothe monk (finnean), then copied it for himself. after the ruling he was forced to return the book to finnean AND its copy.
posted by gl. | October 22, 2006 11:25 PM | comments (7) | categories: calligraphy
Comments
Sounds like you had a good time. It definitely sounds more interesting that PSU Weekend was.
Posted by: michael at October 23, 2006 8:14 AM
Great stuff, Gretchin. Paul and I enjoyed the Deis Brown movie on his site. Inspiring living art concept.
"educe=draw out of, instruct=put into"
Key distinction! Thanks!
Posted by: shelley Noble at October 23, 2006 8:20 AM
he sells cds that provide exquisite detail to his works and several more videos. another thing that makes denis fairly unique is his ability & desire to work digitally: he composes his own music and films his own videos, composites in photoshop, etc.
Posted by: gl. at October 23, 2006 10:09 AM
An apt summary! Who wants to start the east side calligraphy group? I'd be interested in going. I firmly believe you should do the 4x4 exhibit next year and screw politically correct I'm going to volunteer you for the gig. Alesia
Posted by: Alesia at October 23, 2006 2:37 PM
peter schmidt wants the east-side calligraphy group; do you want me to forward your name on, or did you sign the sheet?
i formally accept the nomination as the 4x4 exhibit chair. ;) feel free to emphasize my enthusiasm, committment and how much extra work you want to spare sue and what an excellent job she did with the -instructors-. :)
Posted by: gl. at October 26, 2006 12:21 AM
Thanks Gretchin. For some reason Denis Brown came to my mind and I was wondering how it all went.
And I guess there's the other thing - one must have some skill before it can be educed out (says he who calls it art when he signs his sig the same way twice)
Posted by: peacay at October 26, 2006 12:44 AM
oh, there's more to come, pk. i did another 2-day workshop with him i still have to write up. :)
but i disagree that one must already have skill to be educed. just curiosity & desire.
Posted by: gl. at October 26, 2006 10:03 PM