Heading up to TRIP Loughborough, this Tues 15th Nov...
Shall then be returning with a full update of Sumi Bokashi progress... a lot of research undertaken over the summer months, mostly on my kitchen table!
Have been documenting the process and now have lots of imagery to sort and edit.
New post with findings that will hopefully be of interest coming soon...
Sunday 13 November 2011
Friday 22 July 2011
Sumi Bokashi - Origin, Methodology, and Direction.
As with all research there must be both background and contextual position; a strategy for process and evaluation, and eventually an original outcome and contribution to the subject (in this instance digital ink jet printed textiles).
Origin
Sumi - e is a Japanese term for ink and wash painting.
Bokashi is a Japanese word meaning to distort or to gradiate, it is used primarily to describe the technique in which pigment or inks are applied by brush to a block covered in wet cloth in order to create gradiated effects on a print. Early exponents of this technique were Kuniyoshi, Utagawa and Hiroshigi, it has also been used in the production of Manga. I will expand further on use of Bokashi in a separate update but consider it to be relevant in introducing the title and idealogy of this project.
Sumi - Bokashi involves working directly with the printed inks prior to the finishing process, exploring contact and intervention by hand to distort colour and form, to determine more spontaneous and unique outcomes in an otherwise homogenous process.
The project will conclude by developing and exhibiting a collection of printed textiles to illustrate the practice.
Context
Specializing in the digital textile printing of upholstery fabrics during postgraduate study, I experimented widely with fabric coatings and finishes (applied by hand, spray, or screen) primarily developing digitally printed fabrics which were performance tested to certification.
During this process many finishes and samples were disregarded as in some instances the coatings made the inks less stable, causing blurring, distortion and irregularities which were considered undesirable and unacceptable, specifically with regard to developing certified fabrics.
Whilst achieving some success with certification I reconsidered whether those samples which were initially disregarded may in fact offer potential for the development of a new creative technique. Having experimented in an indirect way I wished to return and determine whether the notion had potential for development by taking a more structured and formal approach - to understand and define the principal theory and to investigate, develop and control the process through combined practice and recorded observation.
Working with industry standard digital textile printing equipment, the ability to produce prints of colour accurate, opacity consistent, and precise uniform output are prerequisites of my role, and due to the relatively fast and clean process offered by drop on demand piezoelectric print technology (compared to analog print methods such as screen or gravure), output may be perceived and be desired (by the end user) to be both instantaneous and exact.
For some users this promptness and seeming exactness of production may be seductive, once formatted for digital process and initial colour samples matched and approved a design file can be printed infinite times with minimal physical effort. Others may consider digitized production to be lacking in integrity, having a lesser aesthetic appeal than traditionally produced textiles, perhaps observing that there is a lack of textural variation in the printed fabric and possibly suspecting the increasing use of digital print technology as a perceived threat to traditional methods.
As both a technical operator using and promoting the technology, and as a practicing textile designer I acknowledge that the process can feel somewhat remote and mechanical, the lack of direct contact with the fabric can be disengaging - as textile designers we are used to handling and interacting with fabric, our sense of touch alongside visual observation informing us in the development of our work. I also acknowledge that a digitally printed fabric can be considered to be lacking in texture, appearing one dimensional in comparison to one which has been screen printed with a variety of inks or dyes. Creative practitioners may address this by embellishing the printed fabric with over-printing, foiling, embroidering, and other surface decoration.
Of further consideration is the approach to irregularities in both digital and traditional print methodologies. Although digital technology is perceived to be exact and has the capacity to deliver as such, where errors and irregularities such as tone jump or the dispersion of satellite ink drops do occur it is considered undesirable and detracting; whereas the occurrence of errors in analog print methodologies, a slight misalignment of screen or uneven pigmentation for instance may be considered to be an inherent part of the process - spontaneous accidents which become intrinsic to the final piece.
It is not the intention of this research to promote or encourage poor quality digital textile printing in any instance (and as the technology is developing and improving continuously, margin for error will reduce considerably); rather that by utilizing the positive aspects of digital print technology (precise, clean, infinite colour options) and hybridizing the process with hand application of aqueous agents new and original outcomes can be realized. In effect, a digital file can be printed many times, however the intervention of hand application will generate differences in each print.
I hope in developing this technique to subvert the notion that digitally printed textiles should be instantaneous and free from irregularities, that spontaneous abstractions may be positive and desirable and that the technology can be used as in a more creative and considered way.
Methodology
Prior to conducting the research I have been developing a strategy for controlling, observing and recording the process. Having performed a few initial experiments it became apparent that the project may be more complex than initially anticipated and has potential to expand beyond the remit of my initial proposal.
Whilst encouraged by the possibilities of expansion, in order to complete to schedule it has been necessary to concentrate actions to those which are most directly relevant, identifying the strategy as follows:
Process Outline
Aqueous agents of varying viscosity will be applied to printed Reactive inks to provoke deliberate migration with the intention of causing changes to chroma values and object form distortion through dilution.
The print process throughout to be conducted on two sets of swatches one of which to be washed out, one - the control to remain unwashed to enable observation of the effect of wash out on the migrant inks.
Printing
Equipment: Digital Ink Jet Textile Printer - Mimaki TX2.
Ink Type: Fortex Reactive.
Inks are to be printed at constant values whereby resolution, number of pulls, print speed etc. to be maintained regardless of fabric type. Head height of printer may be adjusted according to weight of fabric where required but maintaining a 3mm focus aspect.
Colour
Digital colour swatches to be printed using primary and secondary colour groups plus unchromatic black and grey.
Fabric
Above to be printed on fabrics having different attributes of weight and construction.
Reactive or Acid inks must be printed onto pretreated, coated fabrics. The fabric coating is required to enable the protein molecule of the ink to form a covalent bond with the cellulose fibre. Once printed and dried the printed fabric is permanently fixed through a timed, temperature controlled steaming process (using Jaquard steamer 20 minutes at 120°) and the coating and surplus ink then washed out of the fabric (thirty minute wash out at 30°).
Commercially coated fabrics are padded or sprayed with a sodium alginate formula and then heat dried; fabrics may also be self coated using a similar alginate formula. Experimentation will be conducted on both pre - coated and self coated fabrics using primarily Reactive inks. Initial tests are to be conducted on untreated fabrics to enable evaluation of the migratory properties of the inks without interference from alginates or other chemical influence.
Agents
Primary aqueous agents to be waters of differing hard/softness applied in different controlled quantities eg. 0.01ml - 1ml.
Secondary aqueous agents of differing viscocity to include sodium alginate, glycerine, gelatine and thixotropic pastes.
Evaluation
Speed of migration on different fabrics with various agents and on different colours.
Distance and shape (if relevant) of migration to be measured with vernier callipers.
Effect on chroma values from centre to periphery of migration.
Comparison of wash out swatches to control swatches.
Direction
Referencing and evaluating the swatches to select the most successful outcomes and repeating on a further range of fabrics, using a broader colour palette and experimenting with object forms - diads, triads, pentads, etc.
Experimentation with colour vens (simultaneous colour bleeding) and placement of colour.
Utilizing experimentation and evaluation to inform and develop a final collection of printed textiles.
Origin
Sumi - e is a Japanese term for ink and wash painting.
Bokashi is a Japanese word meaning to distort or to gradiate, it is used primarily to describe the technique in which pigment or inks are applied by brush to a block covered in wet cloth in order to create gradiated effects on a print. Early exponents of this technique were Kuniyoshi, Utagawa and Hiroshigi, it has also been used in the production of Manga. I will expand further on use of Bokashi in a separate update but consider it to be relevant in introducing the title and idealogy of this project.
Sumi - Bokashi involves working directly with the printed inks prior to the finishing process, exploring contact and intervention by hand to distort colour and form, to determine more spontaneous and unique outcomes in an otherwise homogenous process.
The project will conclude by developing and exhibiting a collection of printed textiles to illustrate the practice.
Context
Specializing in the digital textile printing of upholstery fabrics during postgraduate study, I experimented widely with fabric coatings and finishes (applied by hand, spray, or screen) primarily developing digitally printed fabrics which were performance tested to certification.
During this process many finishes and samples were disregarded as in some instances the coatings made the inks less stable, causing blurring, distortion and irregularities which were considered undesirable and unacceptable, specifically with regard to developing certified fabrics.
Whilst achieving some success with certification I reconsidered whether those samples which were initially disregarded may in fact offer potential for the development of a new creative technique. Having experimented in an indirect way I wished to return and determine whether the notion had potential for development by taking a more structured and formal approach - to understand and define the principal theory and to investigate, develop and control the process through combined practice and recorded observation.
Working with industry standard digital textile printing equipment, the ability to produce prints of colour accurate, opacity consistent, and precise uniform output are prerequisites of my role, and due to the relatively fast and clean process offered by drop on demand piezoelectric print technology (compared to analog print methods such as screen or gravure), output may be perceived and be desired (by the end user) to be both instantaneous and exact.
For some users this promptness and seeming exactness of production may be seductive, once formatted for digital process and initial colour samples matched and approved a design file can be printed infinite times with minimal physical effort. Others may consider digitized production to be lacking in integrity, having a lesser aesthetic appeal than traditionally produced textiles, perhaps observing that there is a lack of textural variation in the printed fabric and possibly suspecting the increasing use of digital print technology as a perceived threat to traditional methods.
As both a technical operator using and promoting the technology, and as a practicing textile designer I acknowledge that the process can feel somewhat remote and mechanical, the lack of direct contact with the fabric can be disengaging - as textile designers we are used to handling and interacting with fabric, our sense of touch alongside visual observation informing us in the development of our work. I also acknowledge that a digitally printed fabric can be considered to be lacking in texture, appearing one dimensional in comparison to one which has been screen printed with a variety of inks or dyes. Creative practitioners may address this by embellishing the printed fabric with over-printing, foiling, embroidering, and other surface decoration.
Of further consideration is the approach to irregularities in both digital and traditional print methodologies. Although digital technology is perceived to be exact and has the capacity to deliver as such, where errors and irregularities such as tone jump or the dispersion of satellite ink drops do occur it is considered undesirable and detracting; whereas the occurrence of errors in analog print methodologies, a slight misalignment of screen or uneven pigmentation for instance may be considered to be an inherent part of the process - spontaneous accidents which become intrinsic to the final piece.
It is not the intention of this research to promote or encourage poor quality digital textile printing in any instance (and as the technology is developing and improving continuously, margin for error will reduce considerably); rather that by utilizing the positive aspects of digital print technology (precise, clean, infinite colour options) and hybridizing the process with hand application of aqueous agents new and original outcomes can be realized. In effect, a digital file can be printed many times, however the intervention of hand application will generate differences in each print.
I hope in developing this technique to subvert the notion that digitally printed textiles should be instantaneous and free from irregularities, that spontaneous abstractions may be positive and desirable and that the technology can be used as in a more creative and considered way.
Methodology
Prior to conducting the research I have been developing a strategy for controlling, observing and recording the process. Having performed a few initial experiments it became apparent that the project may be more complex than initially anticipated and has potential to expand beyond the remit of my initial proposal.
Whilst encouraged by the possibilities of expansion, in order to complete to schedule it has been necessary to concentrate actions to those which are most directly relevant, identifying the strategy as follows:
Process Outline
Aqueous agents of varying viscosity will be applied to printed Reactive inks to provoke deliberate migration with the intention of causing changes to chroma values and object form distortion through dilution.
The print process throughout to be conducted on two sets of swatches one of which to be washed out, one - the control to remain unwashed to enable observation of the effect of wash out on the migrant inks.
Printing
Equipment: Digital Ink Jet Textile Printer - Mimaki TX2.
Ink Type: Fortex Reactive.
Inks are to be printed at constant values whereby resolution, number of pulls, print speed etc. to be maintained regardless of fabric type. Head height of printer may be adjusted according to weight of fabric where required but maintaining a 3mm focus aspect.
Colour
Digital colour swatches to be printed using primary and secondary colour groups plus unchromatic black and grey.
Fabric
Above to be printed on fabrics having different attributes of weight and construction.
Reactive or Acid inks must be printed onto pretreated, coated fabrics. The fabric coating is required to enable the protein molecule of the ink to form a covalent bond with the cellulose fibre. Once printed and dried the printed fabric is permanently fixed through a timed, temperature controlled steaming process (using Jaquard steamer 20 minutes at 120°) and the coating and surplus ink then washed out of the fabric (thirty minute wash out at 30°).
Commercially coated fabrics are padded or sprayed with a sodium alginate formula and then heat dried; fabrics may also be self coated using a similar alginate formula. Experimentation will be conducted on both pre - coated and self coated fabrics using primarily Reactive inks. Initial tests are to be conducted on untreated fabrics to enable evaluation of the migratory properties of the inks without interference from alginates or other chemical influence.
Agents
Primary aqueous agents to be waters of differing hard/softness applied in different controlled quantities eg. 0.01ml - 1ml.
Secondary aqueous agents of differing viscocity to include sodium alginate, glycerine, gelatine and thixotropic pastes.
Evaluation
Speed of migration on different fabrics with various agents and on different colours.
Distance and shape (if relevant) of migration to be measured with vernier callipers.
Effect on chroma values from centre to periphery of migration.
Comparison of wash out swatches to control swatches.
Direction
Referencing and evaluating the swatches to select the most successful outcomes and repeating on a further range of fabrics, using a broader colour palette and experimenting with object forms - diads, triads, pentads, etc.
Experimentation with colour vens (simultaneous colour bleeding) and placement of colour.
Utilizing experimentation and evaluation to inform and develop a final collection of printed textiles.
Saturday 2 July 2011
Sumi - Bokashi
Sumi - ink
Bokashi - to distort
Continuing exploration into the use of combined digital and traditional print, primarily this research is concerned with developing a new approach to 'print on demand' digital textile printing. In particular I wish to challenge the notion that due to the high spec. technology employed in direct to fabric digital print it should therefore be an instantaneous and consistant process; and that irregularities and imperfection are considered undesirable attributes.
The project concept stems directly from both my technical role - producing high quality output digital textile prints and from the use of traditional print techniques in my own creative practice; my intention is to hybridize the process with a particular emphasis on the use of craft / haptic techniques to generate deliberate visual abstractions in the more homogenous process of digital application.
Though I am hoping the outcome will be a methodology which other practitioners and students may adopt the primary objective is to define and contribute an alternative context for direct to fabric digital technology.
Please feel welcome to comment on the research as it progresses.
Bokashi - to distort
Continuing exploration into the use of combined digital and traditional print, primarily this research is concerned with developing a new approach to 'print on demand' digital textile printing. In particular I wish to challenge the notion that due to the high spec. technology employed in direct to fabric digital print it should therefore be an instantaneous and consistant process; and that irregularities and imperfection are considered undesirable attributes.
The project concept stems directly from both my technical role - producing high quality output digital textile prints and from the use of traditional print techniques in my own creative practice; my intention is to hybridize the process with a particular emphasis on the use of craft / haptic techniques to generate deliberate visual abstractions in the more homogenous process of digital application.
Though I am hoping the outcome will be a methodology which other practitioners and students may adopt the primary objective is to define and contribute an alternative context for direct to fabric digital technology.
Please feel welcome to comment on the research as it progresses.
Tuesday 28 June 2011
Monday 27 June 2011
About this blog...
As previously mentioned I'm usually busy getting covered in ink... however through the medium of blogging I'm hoping to document my current research practice with the aim of promoting dialog from both current lab users and to engage with other practitioners and those of you who may just be curious about the subject.
My own practice involves developing printed textiles and surface finishes through the combining of both traditional and digital methodologies.
Whilst I endeavor to promote the use of digital applications and believe that skillful and intelligent use of design software and technology may in itself be considered a craft (the Digital Hand), I also believe there is very much a place for and a need to be aware of the use of hand and traditional craft process - this becoming of particular interest when technology and traditional technique are utilized in combination.
My own practice involves developing printed textiles and surface finishes through the combining of both traditional and digital methodologies.
Whilst I endeavor to promote the use of digital applications and believe that skillful and intelligent use of design software and technology may in itself be considered a craft (the Digital Hand), I also believe there is very much a place for and a need to be aware of the use of hand and traditional craft process - this becoming of particular interest when technology and traditional technique are utilized in combination.
Lab Biog. a bit about us...
The Digital Textile Design Lab at Bath Spa University was set up in 2006 following a successful CETL (Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning) bid.
The funding enabled purchase of equipment including two direct to fabric printers (Mimaki TX2 Pigment and Reactive) and a Dye Sublimation transfer printer (Mimaki JV22) we also have a HP 5550 Plotter, FB50 wide bed Laser Cutter and open access Mac design studio.
Whilst as a school we still put great emphasis on the use of traditional methodologies the introduction of digital process has enabled students to engage in a broader range of techniques and to become conversant with contemporary textile practice.
I am based in the lab full time having completed a BA in Surface Design at BSU and went on to study an MA Design to enable a more in depth understanding of the technology specific to my role and now find that three years on there is still so much to learn... I am constantly discovering new aspects about the technology and it's many and varied possibilities for creative output.
My technical role here in the lab primarily involves assisting with and processing student files, updating software and trouble shooting any problems with the equipment - digital technology although considered comparably cleaner and more efficient than traditional print still has it's 'moments' and I am often to be found under the bonnet getting covered in ink!
Generally problems can be fixed with a little lateral thinking and plenty of patience..
I also teach digital media for Textile Design and enjoy developing files and resources to help students embrace digital applications in the broader context of their practical work. Due to rapid advancements in the software this is an area I find needs constant revision and updating - it' s always great to learn new things from the students too.
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