Formless Order – Water Marbling

Having experimented with lots of mark making, we noticed how the epidermal patterns of the skin on our fingertips and hands transferred their intricate outlines to the random marks. We noted that much like handwriting, our fingerprints were unique to us as individuals.

 (Some examples of microscopic epidermis photography)

Researching into microscopic photographs of skin layers, we trialled out replicating these types of intricate biological patterns using the technique of water marbling.

(Water marbling techniques involves adding small amounts of oil based ink to water. Because oil and water don’t mix, the oil stays on the surface, thick paper is placed on top which transfers the ink to the paper – just like a mirror image print).

(Some examples of our prints)

(Left: microscopic skin cell photography, right: water marbling example)

Formless Order – Dark Room Photography

As a small side experiment, we took photos of the mark marking trials we had gathered, as well as some pages from Life On The Mississippi, and developed them in the dark room. We played with layering the various negatives, gaining inspiration from some of the work by Geraldo De Barros.

Formless Order – Letterpress

Having researched into early mechanical type forms we came across Mark Twain’s, ‘Life On The Mississippi’ – supposedly the first manuscript to be produced using a typewriter.

 Extracting interesting snippets of the text, we experimented with the technique of letterpress, a method that involves composing individual metal characters, locking them into order and relief printing using a printing press – quite a time consuming process. 

Using the same mark making techniques as before, we scratched and smudged away at the uniformed texts, stripping away their methodical and controlled original outcomes and replacing them with a more fluid and energised appearance.

Note how these words can act as a metaphor, linking in with the loss of individualism through the use of set, processed type – ‘he is absorbed into the common herd’

 

 

Formless Order – Mark Making

Formless Order is a collaborative investigation into written text and its value in our contemporary world, this project explores expressive mark making with the body, the degeneration of mechanical type and the processing of primitive pictorial forms.

Mark making with black ink was one of the first experiments we explored within the project. We were interested in handwriting as an extension of the body and how it is different for each of us. Gone are the days of people putting pen to paper on a regular basis to correspond with one another. Instead the personal link through ones hand writing has been replaced with emotionless typefaces, pre packaged for us by computers, tablets and phones.

 Our own bodies, especially the intricate patterns of our skin are unique to us – everybody has exclusive fingerprints/footprints and dermal patterns. Through making some examples of primal markings our own bodies patterns and movements become a personal expression, just like our own handwriting.