EDITIONS...ORIGINALS...DEFINED

When a digital print is combined with non-digital media, we may ask ourselves, “how do we describe the end result?”  When I go beyond the print by building up layers of paint and resin and assemblage over the original print in order to create a solid structure that bridges printing, painting, collage making and sculpting.  The artwork is not a painting or a print; it is not purely digital or traditional.  It is an original one-of-a-kind artwork, and yet the source print for the image is reproducible.

 

 

An artwork created with the use of digital media and which has the physical form of being a reproducible digital print, is an example of what can be termed “multiple original.”  That is, there is no other original artwork other than what is expressed on the digital print.  The term multiple original is widely used in galleries and museums when referring to traditional fine art prints such as woodcuts, engravings and etchings, lithographs and screen-prints.  In all these cases, there is a matrix or plate of some kind that the print is based on, but that matrix does not constitute the actual artwork.  In the case of digital paintings the digital file is equivalent to the matrix or plate. The print is the artwork.

 

 Multiple prints can be made from the matrix. Each print may vary slightly due to the way ink is applied (or rubbed off) or due to further working of the print surface with other media.  Even with these unique aspects to each print, which make them each one-of-a-kind artworks, they are still linked to each other by coming from a common matrix, and are thus multiple originals.

 

Creating multiple originals carries the responsibility to track the edition in order to imbue them with value to collectors and clients.  An edition may involve some artist proof prints and a limited number of actual artwork prints available for sale. I like to keep the length of editions down to between three and seven in the total number of prints. Many artists choose to have larger editions.  For artwork created with digital media choosing an edition length is the same decision that any printmaker faces.  With a digital file and high-quality digital printer, an unlimited number of multiple prints can be made that are almost identical; with traditional prints, the matrix or plate eventually degrades, and that sets a natural physical limit to the length of an edition.  When hand artwork is applied individually to each print, the artwork takes on a one-of-a-kind stature yet is still related to the other artworks based on the same print.

 

No matter how an edition is defined, or how long it is made, an edition represents a symbol of trust between the artist and the art buyer.  One way to ensure the integrity of an edition is to provide detailed and specific print documentation with every artwork.  At Media Groove Studios & Gallery, the buyer of an artwork has, included on their invoice, a statement of exactly what constitutes the edition, referring to size, substrate, printing method and the number of the print in the edition.

 

Digital printing technology has made enormous progress over the last 15 years in terms of longevity, durability and color fastness.  Today’s generation of pigment inks are far more stable than traditional watercolor paintings.  The best is yet to come !