Output details
34 - Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory
University of the West of England, Bristol
Just Press Print
The research for this curated exhibition explored the impact of digital technology on the practices of a visual artist working in printmaking, a field traditionally associated with craft skills and mechanical processes. Just Press Print, at the Northern Print Gallery, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne (20 June-11 August 2012), documented in detail the physical working practices of the eight artists with whom Laidler had collaborated. Dispensing with conventional exhibition formats, the exhibition displayed 2D and 3D digital prints along with sketches, notes and test proofs bundled in bulldog clips that hung informally from the walls, thereby focusing on the creative process and not the outcome.
Laidler’s research created a methodological approach for print editioning that contributed to an increased understanding of print practices in the digital era. The methodology was tested through the development of a print publishing practice entitled CFPR Editions (www.cfpreditions.co.uk) selected for inclusion at the Multiplied Contemporary Print Fair, Christies, London (11-15 October 2012). The shift from a gallery exhibition to a fair allowed the curatorial premise to be evaluated within an art market audience, alongside established studios such as Barbican, ICA, Serpentine Gallery, Tate Britain and Whitechapel, enabling comparisons between the practices of an evolving university digital atelier system and traditional and commercial print studios.
The concepts underlying the exhibition had been developed by Laidler at two international conferences: in Southampton (March 2010) and Gjovik, Norway (June 2010). Laidler was invited to present a lecture and contribute to a panel discussion on the development and ethos of a university digital publishing studio at the Museum World and the Art Market, Second International Printmaking Symposium, Bentlage, Germany (27-30 September 2012). Laidler also gave an invited lecture on this project at Edinburgh Printmakers (31 October 2013). Venues have been agreed for a touring exhibition in the USA, 2014-16.
