From Bash Street to Duchamp, reproduction and originality using digitally created content

Hoskins, Stephen; Fairclough, Sophia; Harrison, Caroline

Abstract

The digital printing of imagery has caused speculation in regard to originality of image both in conception and in conservation. It has recreated the old arguments constantly cited over the authenticity of the artist original print, because the subject is never straightforward. The same arguments in relation to originality still hold true and are parallel within conservation. The concept that digital process is used for image storage or reproduction is no longer the case, currently digital capture and process is integral to most methods of printing. This paper demonstrates various methods of digital integration. It follows three case studies, where questions regarding conservation correction and content can be referred to the artist. First Leo Baxendale’s need to exhibit his original Bash Street Kids and Little Plum drawings made in the 1950s and early 1960s for the Beano comic. Secondly Joe Tilson’s Clip o Matic series created in the late 1960s for Editions Alecto in which the acetate layer within his prints has deteriorated beyond repair, thus rendering the original prints un-exhibitable. Finally the recent digital print, Typo-Typorama by Richard Hamilton, itself a translation and recreation of Marcel Duchamp’s Large Glass made using notes from the Green Box.

This research was first presented at the Preservation and Conservation Issues Related to Digital Printing and Digital Photography Conference, Institute of Physics, April 2006.

Proceeding published as Conference held on 24th and 25th April 2006 at the Institute of Physics, London, UK.
"Organised by the Printing, Papermaking and Packaging Group of the Institute of Physics, and MATAR Research Centre of the University of the Arts London."

• Publication Date: Sep 1, 2006
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Book Title: Preservation and Conservation Issues Related to Digital Printing and Digital Photography Conference
• ISBN: 9780955398407
• Keywords: digital print, conservation, original print, storage, reproduction, Leo Baxendale, Bash Street Kids, Little Plum, Joe Tilson, Clip o Matic, Richard Hamilton, Typo-Typorama, Marcel Duchamp
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/1037019
• Publisher URL: http://www.iop.org/activity/groups/subject/pgs/index.html