Towards Archaeological Printmaking

Abstract

With the advancement of the ink manufacturing industry and methods in the 19th century, it has been argued that artists lost intimacy with the raw materials used in almost all techniques. The composition of ingredients in even the most common drawing and printing inks, tusches, or crayons became a mystery. If, on one hand, the advancement of chemistry and industry allowed the improvement of paints and led artists to understand how to combine them, on the other hand, putting high-quality ready-to-use materials on the market pinpointed the beginning of the broken connection between artists, raw materials, and the process of their fabrication. The model of work in this research is posited in a more complex and desirable situation, such as working in situ as opposed to a well-provided printmaking workshop. To achieve a better understanding of local culture, this research aims to deepen the knowledge of the processes embodied in the use of print media and the construction of artists’ tools. The local black slate, used as a matrix for lithographic printing, its colourful variation for coating papers, gum printing, inks, and crayons, extend the innovative experimental approaches and offer a variety of strategies to understand and read local collective memories and the history of communities. Reconstructing 19th-century materials used in commercial printing or looking at vernacular buildings makes us consider the use of hereditary methods and knowledge and the need to include traditional skills and craftsmanship. It prompts us to learn from a constructive culture that has been informed by the collective memory of knowledge and skills, both popular and erudite, and to acknowledge these repositories of knowledge as evidence of the dynamic connection between the past and future of humankind’s adaptation to the environment, where printmaking in situ may have a role in negotiating culture and history.