Echoes from the past - Impact international print conference

Chamberlain, Ian

Abstract

In my presentation I will discuss my current project ‘The Atlantic wall”and my experience of recording first hand several locations along the Atlantic Wall in France, Norway and Denmark using Drawing, photography and film to capture and explore the form and surface qualities
of the subjects. These will then be taken in to Etching which allows me to investigate place through an organic evolution of recording and insights into location. The interlinking processes of drawing and printmaking enabling me to make a sustained enquiry.
By visiting these locations, I will develop my own subjective emotionaland visual response. The Atlantic Wall was a system of coastal fortifications built by Nazi Germany 1942 - 1944 along the coast of Europe.
The choice of subject of the Atlantic Wall offers contemporary relevance due to current debates around visible and invisible barriers and our impending isolation from the continent. Some of these visible
barriers remain, isolated architectural symbols, becoming a visual metaphor of the shifting political, social and environmental landscape.
The majority of previous subjects I have recorded were considered at the forefront of technology during their lifetime. They are now defunct or have been reconfigured for a different use. The work becomes a visual historical document.
I will discuss the relevance of etching as a process to record my subjects and its importance within a contemporary art context but also reference a wider historical context and how key practitioners have informed my work such as Rembrandt, Piranesi and Morandi.
I also include and discuss in more depth the passing of time and how the geographical and emotional distance from the source of inspiration allows more abstract ideas to surface, creating an autonomy and uniqueness within the print.

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (unpublished)
• Conference Name: IMPACT 10 - ENCUENTRO
• Start Date: Sep 1, 2018
• End Date: Sep 9, 2018
• Acceptance Date: Mar 1, 2018
• Publication Date: Sep 7, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 7, 2019
• Peer Reviewed: Not Peer Reviewed
• Keywords: printmaking, drawing, drawing into print, etching landscape
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/860832
• Additional Information: Additional Information : https://www.impact10.es/bios/e-f-g-h-i/ian-chamberlain/; Title of Conference or Conference Proceedings : Impact - Print Conference