Lucca Paper Biennale, 9th Edition, Chaos
and Silence – Aug. 4 – Sep.27, 2018
The Warmth of Paper
China Academy of Art,
Il Mercato de Carmine
Apart from
indoor exhibitions in Palazzo Ducale and Il Mercato de Carmine and outdoor
exhibitions around town the Lucca Paper
Biennale hosted "Network days"
Aug. 3rd – 4th, panels, aimed
to experience networking and exchange with leading artists, curators and
international organizers of Paper Art events, with whom we should discuss the
issues of the world of Paper Art. Discussions in an informal
format between speakers and the public, allowing the speakers to share their
expertise, their views and opinions.
Aug 4th
I was on the panel, moderated by Sigi Beare together with the
general director of the Lucca Biennale Emiliano Galigani, with Iapma president
Nicole Donnelly, with Oskar Ho, President of Asia Pacific Designers Federation,
with Daniela Todorova, president of Amateras Foundation and Daniela’s husband. The
questions we had were the following:
"Is Paper art the next big thing?"
"What is Paper art and what's going on in the paper art world? How can the art events make this movement stronger? What are the trends in the future?"
"What is Paper art and what's going on in the paper art world? How can the art events make this movement stronger? What are the trends in the future?"
Island, Korean artist Ho Yoan Shin,
Il Mercato de Carmine
As
one could assume that part of the audience would not know much about paper art,
I had prepared a few notes, which I would like to share with you in the
following.
Paper Art in the Future.
Well, paper art
has been the next big thing for me personally since 35 years and for others
even longer and it seems to be an ongoing next big thing!
The handmade
paper as an artistic means of expression got its renaissance in USA in the
1950’s as
a symbiosis between handmade paper and graphic expression, a development that spread to Europe
in the 70s and the 80s. Jim Dine had his lithography “White Teeth” printed on
specially made Fabriano sheets in the mid-1960s. In 1973 Robert Rauschenberg
worked at the old paper mill Richard de Bas in the Puy de Dôme area of France
to manufacture special paper for his series named “Pages and Fuses”.
One of the most important experimental
centers for the paper/print symbiosis was Tyler Graphics Ltd. in Bedford
Village, New York, USA. Here David Hockney, Elsworth Kelly, Kenneth Noland, Robert
Motherwell, Claes Oldenburg, James Rosenquist, Frank Stella and others had unique
works made which demonstrate the complete unity between paper and print at its very best.
Inspired by this conglomerate of paper
and print, an entirely new industry sprang up to construct the machinery and
equipment necessary for manufacturing the driving force.for artists to do their work. Parallel to the
ecological development, this special art form started to spread, and paper
studios appeared in most parts of the world, giving rise to both two- and
three-dimensional work. Paper biennales, paper periodicals and paper stores
flourish like never before. The past almost 70 years of experimenting provide an
opportunity to look back on a development that demonstrates some very special
chains of events.
When the need for something begins to
vane, a society invests the material itself with cultural value. The use we
formerly made of paper changes and we focus on paper as a medium – a medium for
artistic expression – the special attributes of paper. Paper is made of natural
fibres and the result is a new product of nature. Paper exists because of
water. The origins of the material can be formulated: plant/water/paper/new
life. Paper symbolizes the ecological cycle and has a history that gives us an
opportunity of understanding our own history.
A
characteristic feature of paper as a material is that it has aspects belonging
to history, geography, biology, ecology, cultural history and aesthetics. It is
a material meeting
most
of the requirements that artists may have for a material for graphics,
painting, sculpture, photo, installation, interior/exterior
design/architecture, fashion, furniture, lighting, books, music and
performance. Work expressed in and with paper has a
clear and definable style.
In the work process within this field
there will always be particular techniques that the artist need to master in
order to utilize the medium, which in its very basic form consists of destruction and reconstruction. The
material must be collected, boiled, cleaned, pounded, cut, cast and surface
treated or collected, dissected and re-combined in relation to the desired two-
or three-dimensional result. The artistic expressions follow lines that
demonstrate shared features. When studying art history we inevitably come
across “isms”. Designations like impressionism, cubism, symbolism etc. do not
change the content of art itself. These isms: chains of events - are
constructed in retrospect and provide insight into the history of art in
relation to the surrounding society. Personally I do not find divisions and
differences we as humans continuously define ourselves and our surroundings
with important and do not find that the ism-categories do justice to all art,
but to follow up on this idea one might talk about an ism named paperism. An ism is a line of action invented by art historians
in order to put art into boxes and to handle what happened within a certain
period of time according to the similarities of the art work produced during
that specific period. Observing what is happening in the paper art world, there
are certain categories that continuously are repeated: paper/ print – ecology –
earth’s strength/ the potential of fiber – earth’s layers/sheet – recycling –
constructions, where paper is combined with other materials- paper as skin –
paper as fashion – paper/photo – watermarks – historic potential – biological
potential – furniture – music – performances – walls - painting......
In
the 21st century society focuses
more and more on sustainability,
re-/up-cycle responsibility, ecological behavior and environmental attitude,
bringing even more focus on paper as a creative vehicle. Already in the 90’ties
we could read that paper would disappear parallel with digitalisation, which
has been proved wrong. We might be using less paper in offices and buying fewer news papers
reading these online. But we’re ordering more online. What we buy on the
internet has to be transported home, and it’s sent in packaging made out of
wood fiber. This is one of the reasons why the pulp and paper is a growing
industry. Most pulp come from plantations.
Millions of trees would not exist if not for the pulp and paper industry,
because no one would be planting millions of trees for fun. Without
the paper industry, the environment might look worse than it does today.
(The Lucca Biennale’s 9th edition focuses on
cardboard. All outdoor sculptures were made by cardboard).
With changing needs for paper we delve deeper into the environmental impact
of opting for plastics over wood-based materials. Experiments with carbon fiber
made out of tree fibers/lignin are taking place, which will be a completely sustainable product. It will be much
cheaper than carbon fibers made out of oil. Hopefully the raw material will be
available beyond the next ten, twenty, thirty years.
Paper plays an
increasingly large role as a high-performance material in ultra –modern
technology in the fields of electronics, energy, medical treatment and in
environmental contexts, where the original production process based on
cellulose fibres is being superceded by the use of synthetic fibres; metal
fibres, ceramic fibres; and by paper which has undergone a second and third
process of treatment, in order that such characteristics as resistance to heat
and chemical substances, filtering capabilities, acoustic and magnetic
attributes – in conjunction with traditional methods of production – can
further develop fiber technology
Artists working with handmade paper are
experimenting with numerous plant fibers and have always for the most parts
worked sustainable and pointed towards the many possibilities of paper.
Parallel with the growth of technology and globality a plant/paper research and
innovation have and are taken place on all possible levels.
Experiments with bamboo and straw as
building materials – not really a renewal - as the Eastern part of the world have used paper/pulp as building material for centuries! The access to
information has evidently functioned as a wake-up call. Scientists have
experimented with seaweed as insulation material and plan to make the seaweed insulating material in sheet form.
Now "balls of the Neptune" gather on the coast manually and are imported to Germany from Tunisia and Albania. The insulating material from seaweed under the name NeptuTherm is offered today in the market by the German company with the name of the same name.
Now "balls of the Neptune" gather on the coast manually and are imported to Germany from Tunisia and Albania. The insulating material from seaweed under the name NeptuTherm is offered today in the market by the German company with the name of the same name.
On the internet one can find numerous models how to build
NASA spacecraft models in paper inspired
by paper cutting and Nasa seeking novel
folding/origami-based patterns and concepts for packaging a large radiation
shield within a single launch vehicle that can be deployed around a Mars
vehicle in cis-Lunar space. This challenge seeks creative ideas that can be
shown using diagrams, graphics, 3D models, or animations that at a minimum show
the stowed and deployed configurations.
Within the paper art – the future goes
hand in hand with technology, 3d paper printing, computational
origami, innovative and renewable materials, that all
offer opportunities for increased use of paper, and other cause changes
in demand for different grades of paper.
The traditional Chinese and Japanese
technique of paper-cutting, the art of cutting unique designs in paper, may be
the key to the development of lightweight, super portable, and sustainable
power sources for devices including remote controls, watches, and temperature
sensors.
(The Lucca Biennale’s 9th edition exhibits a
couple of indoor works, where artists
have used the paper cut technique in various ways as the two illustrated works in this context)
Paper also has a lot to offer within
physical and psychological matters: the following is an extract from my article
(1) and lecture (2): A Metaphysical Approach to Paper
A handmade sheet of paper is called an ark in Danish
We
all have pictures in the mind shimmering around the edges. Pictures we do not
always act upon; they are just shimmering in the midst of our inner flow. To
create an ark the mind has to be focused from within – the mind translates the
past, the present and the future in the ark, whereas an ark comes to symbolize
time and mind. Ark is about the mind.
We
are born with 5 senses, meant to be developed. If we relate these 5 senses to
ark: Ark contains sound – think about the German Joseph Anton Riedl, who made
Paper Music concerts ….. Ark contains taste – think about the American John
Cage and his Edible Drawings based on his macrobiotic diet…..Ark is tactile
- each ark asks to be touched….. Ark is
visible, we have to see ark, not only to look at it……Ark contains smell of
plant and water, nature ……Feeling our senses is more important than thoughts.
The
professional maker of ark has his own personal stroke. If the maker is in
balance within himself, he will create a perfect ark. If the maker is not in
balance within himself, he loses control over his stroke. The act, the stroke
and the ark reflect the maker’s contact with his mind and his senses – his
inner balance. Making ark has the possibilities of enlarging both psychological
and physical knowledge about.( extract :- please see below)
The goal of a
contemporary artist who is choosing to create art with new technologies should
not be to "extract" meaning from the technological platform, but to
use it as a base for new bold directions. It has been and still is the art that
pushes the limits and defines new meanings that will change how we think and
feel - today and in the future.
- International biennale events have become a trend
and we see more and more coming. A biennale
shall be much more that just exhibitions/showcases. Talks, conferences, round -tables, workshops, performance, films a.o. in connection with these events are
very important for re-thinking and development. As paper art is a meta art
form, I find that scientists, architects, biologists, geologists, historians,
technologists, psychologist a.o. should be invited as well in order to open up
for new contexts. I believe that this should be an aim for future biennales. The
trend for the future of paper is to collaborate with science and technology –
crossing borders/categories. The base for all this is paper history and I find
it very important to link to the historical development of paper art to
underline the importance of the art form in the future.
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The historical development of handmade paper in
Pescia, 18 km from Lucca:
In 1984 I visited the Italian paper mills:
Fabriano, Amatruda/Amalfi and the Cartiera Magnani, situated just 18 km from
Lucca in Pescia and I brought back a small collection of beautiful watermark
paper and have fond memories of this very special mill, that carried an air of
elegance and high quality. Surprised that nothing was mentioned about this
historic place during the Lucca biennale, I asked around and the message was:
it is not working anymore. I wanted to know that for myself, rented a car and
went to Pescia and I’m happy I did. There are things happening in Pescia! The
non for profit Associazione Museo della Carta di Pescia began restoring the
Cartiera Magnani in 2010.( Handmade paper was made until 1992). The first wing
housing the Magnani historical archive opened in 2016. Hopefully the entire restoration of Cartiera Magnani will be
finished in 2 years time. Educational programs are taking place and the history
is and will be carried forward. For more information: www.magnanipescia.it
Concerning paper art
I’m not interested in nostalgia. But the idea of tradition – to know the
history of paper - is to carry forward. We all have potentials to leave
something behind that enables a culture we do not even know yet. To leave
something that can be nourished, contained and held.
Anne
Vilsboell
Liminal Space, Swiss artist Manuela Granzio,outdoor
Danish artist Anne Vilsboell, Leap and La Famiglia,Palazzo Ducale
