Cyanotype + Collage

CYANOTYPE

Introduction

Cyanotype is a chemical method of art. We only need two special chemicals to be mixed with water, and with masking and UV light, the effect of printing could be completed, which is really interesting. Brenton Hamilton’s work inspired me to combine cyanotype with collage art to create a unique style, which is what I wanted to do. This booklet included my process of learning and experimenting with cyanotype, from regular cyanotype to stacking negatives, cutting and pasting my cyanotype pieces to create collages, three-dimensional elements, etc. Whether success or failure is recorded in this booklet, it is a meaningful learning process.

I.Regular

2022.11.21-11.26

In this chapter, I document my first week of experimentation at cyanotype. I used cyanotype to print some collage artists’ works. These experiments allowed me to understand how cyanotype works and to gain some experience.

Whistle Blues No. 1, 1969

This is my first attempt, the sunshine is not engouh and it dosn’t look like very blue. The second time, I fixed it with clips and make it for more time and it worked much better than before.

Romare Bearden, Train

Jo Ractliffe, Nadir 13, 1988

Rem Koolhaas, Elia Zenghelis, Madelon Vriesendorp, Zoe Zenghelis, Exodus, or the Voluntary Prisoners of Architecture: The Reception Area, 1972

György Kepes, Feathery Light, c.1939–40

The accidental water stains make this piece look more interesting.

Richard Hamilton, Photograph for the cover of Living Arts Magazine, 1963

Barry Martin, Movement Collage, 1965

I tried to experiment with common paper, but the result was not as good as watercolor paper, the blue color did not look very clear and lacked texture.

Keiichi Tanaami,Untitled (Collage Book 1_15), c. 1969

Cyanotype and Collage

The font theme of this collage produces a vintage style through Cynotype printing.

Cyanotype and Collage

Robyn Denny, Collage (Austin Reed, Version I), 1959

Lynda Benglis, Collage, 1973

Thomas Hirschhorn, Provide Ruins V, 2003

Reflection 1

During this week of experiments, I gradually understood the principle of cyanotype and what is necessary for success in terms of technique. Firstly, it is important to apply cyanotype liquid evenly on the paper, it does not need to be too thick, or it will take a long time to dry, and if it is not even, it may result in strange marks on the final product. Secondly, the light of the sun, the intensity of ultraviolet light. It is critical because the cyanotype needs ultraviolet light to turn blue. Since the weather was mostly cloudy during this period, I was struggling, and I bought a UV light to help me finish my work, which is a good way for me to continue my work at night as well. Overall, these are the two most critical elements of a successful basic cyanotype.

Veg e table Man

II.Stacked 2022.11.26-12.03

In this week’s experiment, I did the “stacking” experiment with the negatives from last time and some of the photos I took myself. I stacked the negatives randomly or purposefully depending on the content to create some surprises or stories I wanted, similar to the photo montage.

Barry Martin, Movement Collage + Robyn Denny, Collage

This is a combination of two collages by Barry Martin and Robyn Denny. I stacked their negatives together and then left them in the sun, which was my first attempt at stacking. The combination of the collage work of the magazine and the typeface produced surprising results, with more fragmented elements appearing in the final product.

Richard Hamilton, Photograph for the cover of Living Arts Magazine + Rem Koolhaas, Elia Zenghelis, Madelon Vriesendorp, Zoe Zenghelis, Exodus, or the Voluntary Prisoners ofArchitecture: The Reception Area

This is the second attempt at stacking, and I chose two realistic collages. Although the print came out nice and clear, I don’t think it was considered successful because one of the negatives had a large black area, so it caused some things to be obscured.

Cyanotype and Collage

Senses

I got a lot of experience from the two stacking experiments before and I started to make something that really belong to me. I used my own photos and a few online images to make negatives and cut them out for stacking.

In a way I think of it as a kind of collage, a two-dimensional collage. This is my first work, it’s called “Sense”, I used photos of eyes, hands and ears, trying to express the effect of sight, touch and sound.

Relationships

I used pictures of clips and people, one walking and one lying down. I wanted to show the relationship between people, socialization, and also my thinking about solid relationships, because sometimes some relationships make me feel tired and want to escape, but the relationship is like being caught with a clip, and I hesitate.

Intracerebral Activity

Once again, I used pictures of the mouth and ear and I put them together in the shape of a brain. When we are thinking about something, these thoughts are transformed into a voice, which may be our own or someone else’s. This voice repeatedly narrates our thoughts and what our brain is trying to say, to show a form of thinking.

ProcessSearching seems to be one of the things we are always doing, searching for romantic love, a stable job, something beautiful, the meaning of life, etc. The process of searching is always the most memorable, so sometimes the process seems to be more important than the outcome.

Forced 1

When I’m forced to answer some phone call I don’t want to take, the voice on the other side irritates me no matter how it sounds, like an ear-piercing growl that I can barely stand. It’s not just answering the phone, it’s painful to be forced to do anything, so maybe it’s better to follow your heart.

Reflection 2

I got a lot of great results in this week. when two negatives overlap, the result is always a surprise, especially seeing my photos stacked together and creating new images through the sunshine. I also learned some experience that I need to pay attention to the fit of the negative to the paper and the distance between the UV light and the paper; too far away will result in too light color, and too close will result in too dark color. I can achieve this effect with Photoshop filters, but after all, they are digital and don’t have the texture of the cyanotype. Maybe in next week’s experiment, I can try to cut these negatives.

III.Recombination

2022.12.4-12.9

I started to make the collage with scissors and glue. I cut out the previous negatives, designed their layout, and printed them through cyanotype.

I also cut out pieces from the last two weeks of works to create unique collages and stories.

Must humans be herd animals?

Humans always appear in groups, families, classes, work, etc. Humans rely on each other, giving each other companionship and reliance to compensate for the loneliness and helplessness of being alone. So can human beings live alone? Is it really difficult to persist after being separated from a fixed relationship? Are humans must be herd animals?

Which one is me? 1

In this work, I had a new idea, I tried to add negative as a new element to my collage, it is also a part of cyanotype, and black and blue can reach a better visual effect.

This is a collage about self. In this digital age, people spend more time communicating on social media; when I talk to people on the internet, I tend to come across as more talkative, but in reality I’m not talkative, so which one is really me? Is the real me on the Internet?

Forced 2

This is an iteration of last week’s “Forced 1”, where I added negatives and tweaked elements to make the image clearer and easier to understand. I still want to express the emotion of being forced to do something I don’t want to do, an emotion of anxiety and pain.

Me-Human

As a human, I enjoy the air into my lungs, the taste of food, the touch of soft grass and hard stones. These sensory experiences are not available as a plankton, wow, being a human is really a good choice; but I need to deal with the complexity of human relationships and deal with the worries that money brings, I have to face these.

Forced 3

I used a photo of my pet for this collage. I pondered whether my raising it was also a form of coercion for it, that it was forced to live with me and do my bidding. Does it want to escape my control, and being with me may not be the best choice for it.

Can’t without ♪

The inspiration came from a phenomenon I found. My friends around me always listen to music when they are doing something. Music is a cultural product that seems to be tightly connected to our lives, it creates an atmosphere that makes us feel relaxed or tense when we work or study, and we can’t leave it.

What’s Beautiful?

This collage is based on a stacked piece I made last week called “Senses”. It expresses a thought about beauty. Are people beautiful in their shiny clothes?

Or is it beautiful to wear glittering nail polish? Does ornate jewelry make you more beautiful?

Or can knowledge and experience make you beautiful? Is looking beautiful really beautiful?

Reflection 3

During the week, I through cyanotype to print out my shots and collected photos, and it was really a fun process to rearrange them to form new stories. I also added negatives as a new element to the collages, black and white and varying degrees of blue to enhance the visual effect and add texture to my work. Overall, I enjoyed the process of making the cyanotype and then cutting out the elements to make the collage, it made me feel like I was creating something of my own, something that was truly my own, something that made a meaningful week.

Untitled

nasuS lieW

IV.Diversification 2022.12.9-12.15

Three-dimensional things can also be printed by cyanotype, such as pliers, stainless steel cleaner, etc. Cyanotype doesn’t just flat. I used a lot of three-dimensional things to make new cyanotype works, cut them out with scissors and then glued these pieces, created new stories.

Worship

This piece was made with my first week of cyanotype works, my own photos negatives, cyanotype of three-dimensional objects. This is an attempt to combine all the materials so far. I made the cyanotype with the pliers, the tissue of the oranges and all these stereoscopic elements. This work is about religion, religion has a deep relationship with human beings, it is different for everyone, it is supreme and nonsense, I think about the meaning of religion in this work.

Growing

In this work, I used the tissue of an orange and a branch for the cyanotype. From adolescence to adulthood is a fast growing process, although it takes at least two years, but realizing that change is like the blink of an eye, faster than the growth of a plant. We repair some parts of ourselves, such as laziness, childishness, capriciousness, in order to make the car driving to the future successfully depart and become a real adult.

Cleaner

I used stainless steel cleaner, leaves, paring knife to complete the three-dimensional cyanotype. We seem to do cleaning every day. Cleaning food scraps, washing dishes, vegetables, mopping, etc., these tasks are necessary, a clean living environment can make people happy. These are only the external cleaning, few people are willing to take the time to clean themselves internally, to deal with bad and painful memories from the past, bad habits, distorted perceptions.

Who is escaping?

In this era of rapid development, it is inevitable that plants are sacrificed. People cut down trees for construction and use the land for developing buildings so that they can long be prosperous cities. But resources are not inexhaustible, and over-exploitation is not good. But in fact, are we escaping from the trees, or are the trees escaping from the people?

Within Reach

When everything becomes within reach, then will we still cherish it. It is easy to get someone’s trust, multiple lovers, inexhaustible money, play with ammunition and guns at will, so is life still important, is love still romantic, is family still warm.

Which one is me? 2

Plants, animals and humans are all alive, so who am I? How am I different? This work is totally different from Which Am I? 1. I started to think about how I am different from other people, how am I different from animals and plants. Is it that I can relate to humans, or that I can do math? Maybe the answer lies in my soul, which is unique.

Tired

The hollowed out pasta and oranges make this piece interesting. This collage is trying to express some of my emotional states. When I encounter something bad in a very busy period, the emotions in my mind will be like slogans in exaggerated letters in my mind, repeatedly making me feel this emotion and hard to erase, overworking so that I hardly have time to empty myself, like pieces of oranges that are hard to be glued together again through tissue.

Reflection 4

During this week, I experimented with many three-dimensional stuff to diversify the cyanotype and made collages with the results, which felt really good. I used a lot of materials that don’t seem to be related to art, like orange peels, branches, and so on, it was amazing that they could be printed on paper through cyanotype. The process of making a new collage with the results of the previous weeks was also something that gave me a sense of accomplishment. The variety of materials available for collage and printing also gave me a greater perspective on collage and how anything can be used for collage. Overall,

I really learned a lot and had fun learning cyanotype because it was a technique I had never tried before and I developed more collage skills through it, a great learning process.

References

References

1. “Train Whistle Blues No. 1.” MoMa, 28 Oct. 2015, www.moma.org/ collection/works/198285.

2. “Nadir 13.” MoMa, 13 Feb. 2015, www.moma.org/collection/ works/95185.

3. “Exodus, or the Voluntary Prisoners of Architecture: The Reception Area.” MoMa, 22 Mar. 1996, www.moma.org/collection/ works/95185.

4. “Feathery Light.” Tate, 11 Feb. 2013, www.tate.org.uk/ art/artworks/kepes-featherylight-p80540.

5. “Back Cover of Living Arts Magazine, No. 2..” Tate, www. tate-images.com/M02111-BackCover-of-Living-Arts-Magazine-No2-showing.html.

6. “Movement Collage.” Tate, www.tate-images.com/M02111-BackCover-of-Living-Arts-Magazine-No2-showing.html.

References

7.”Untitled (Collage Book 1_15).” MoMa, www.moma.org/artists/67285.

8.”Collage (Austin Reed, Version I).” Tate, www.tate.org.uk/art/ artworks/denny-collage-austinreed-version-i-t01835.

9.”Lynda Benglis.” MoMa, www. moma.org/collection/works/118501.

10. “Provide Ruins V.” MoMa, www. moma.org/collection/works/96148.

11. “Brenton Hamilton Studio.” Brenton Hamilton, www. brentonhamilton.com/.

12.”Garrett on Twitter.” Pinterest, www.pinterest.com.au/ pin/659566307945819379/.

13. Zhang, Evelyn. “My eye.” Pinterest, www.pinterest.com.au/ pin/13510867624167517/.

14. Zhang, Evelyn. “Classy Men White Deluxe Pre-Tied Bow Tie.” Pinterest, www.pinterest.com.au/ pin/726909196115662453/.

References

15. 2Modern. “Hand Hook.” Pinterest, www.pinterest.com.au/ pin/26529085276601779/.

16. Not On The High Street. “GPO 746 Rotary Dial Telephone

By ProTelX Ltd.” Pinterest, www.pinterest.com.au/ pin/1069182767755321211/.

17.”Untitled.” MoMa, www.moma. org/collection/works/51779.

Xin Zeng

Cyanotype and Collage

Xin Zeng 2022

Cyanotype and Collage

GRPH 3012 301

Zeng

Xin Zeng

Cyanotype and Collage Xin

Cyanotype and Collage

GRPH 3012 301 GRPH 3012 301

2022 2022

CYANOTYPE