Category Archives: From The Field

Chelsea Market Field Trip

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20150513_103514[1]20150513_103520[1]During the previous class, we took a trip to Chelsea Market in midtown Manhattan. It was a rather interesting experience as I had never been there before. From what I saw, this is a place for people with enough money to burn away as many places were rather pricey. It is also a place for people with good reputations, as there are offices for Major League Baseball, The Food Network, and Google/YouTube present in Chelsea Market’s upper floors.

Two pieces of art that struck my curiosity both involve smiling flowers. Both of these artworks intrigued me because while both use the same image of a smiling flower, they are represented very differently. For example, one of them shows very few flowers on stems of different lengths in an outdoor setting. However, the other one only shows flower faces overlapping one another in various colors, such as red and what appears to be photo-negative.

These two works of art were printed by lithography. In modern lithography, the image is made of a polymer coating applied to a flexible aluminum plate. The image can be printed directly from a plate that shows a reversed image. It can also be printed offset by transferring the image onto a flexible rubber sheet for printing and publication.

The artist behind these paintings, Takashi Murakami, used his own unique style called “superflat” to create them. Superflat can be described as “the aesthetic characteristics of the Japanese artistic tradition and the nature of post-war Japanese culture and society.” Murakami’s portrayal of superflat comes from modern Japanese pop-culture, such as anime. More importantly, the purpose of this style is a way of not conforming to modern contemporary Japanese art, which Murakami felt was mainly comprised of Western trends.

It can be said that while both art pieces seem interesting, it can also be very confusing to decipher. Art like this has a very limited audience. It is due to how surreal this art form is opposed to many other styles. Individuals who are very into modern art will easily enjoy and understand it as Murakami’s work can be compared to that of Andy Warhol. Almost anyone else who is into Renaissance art (like myself) or is just a very casual observer would only find interest from just a glance and nothing else. Overall, this form of visual communication is not completely effective.

Letter Press Field Trip

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During the previous class, we were taken to see City Tech’s letter press. It was an interesting sight as I thought that this invention was completely scrapped. To my belief, it was actually in good condition for use.

Letterpress works by first placing reversed letter keys together on a line of type. The letter keys must be in reverse because the placement on the paper will be mirrored. Aside from letter keys, reversed images can also be used. Next, you have to put ink on the lines of type. There are many inks that can be used, such as transparent and opaque ink. Lastly, you can place a piece of paper on the inked type, press the type on it, and that’s how you do a simple letterpress.

For a serious job, a letterpress machine is required. To use it, spread some ink on the machine’s ink fountain. Once that is done, place lines of type that you want pressed under the ink fountain. Afterwards, the machine’s lever has to be pulled down and the wheel next to it has to be turned so the ink fountain can be activated. During this time, you have to wait for all of the ink to be spread on the fountain. Once the ink is spread on both the fountain and the type, put a piece of thick paper on the small stand in front of the letterpress. Lastly, just pull the lever down and quickly up so the type can be pressed on the paper properly.

One thing that I noticed is that the letterpress is not perfect. (Then again, nothing is.) What makes it imperfect is that the type will not show one hundred percent. I have seen that the corners will be more faded than every other part of the press. It can come from the type of ink used or the ink roller will not have enough ink for the corners. (At least from what I have seen.) Then again, the letterpress is over sixty years old, so wear and tear might contribute to the issue.

That was what I learned during my experience during this trip. It was rather interesting to see such an old contraption still work properly. I was amazed that such a machine can still make a proper print. The letterpress may be obsolete, but it can still be a useful tool. It will not die sooner than most people think.