And how sharp I am was/Re: Temperaprint & Gum

On Fri, 30 Jan 2004, pete wrote:
>
> Yupo is laminated polypropylene a plastic. I think I once sent you a sample
> when it was called Synteape in the UK and Kimdura in the US I seem to
> remember your comment was, not bad for a plastic.
>

OK, now I remember, in fact I still have it ... and still say the same
thing. However, I think of the print as an OBJECT in itself, and to me
the paper the object consists of is important. Reminds me of something
John Yang said when we interviewed him... He was commenting that some
people say -- well, I haven't got the text in front of me, but something
like *the PICTURE is all that matters.* Yang's comment was I am NOT going
through all this just for "the picture" or words to that effect. I agree.
I care about the object, the ding an sich, and if sharpness beyond a
certain point mattered to me (it doesn't) -- oh, I dunno, maybe I'd throw
knives.

I think by the way (say I, risking a few knives myself) there's ENTIRELY
too much concern with sharpness in this field. I make an analogy to the
obsession over archivality that you DO NOT FIND, and NEVER HAVE FOUND
among painters or persons who draw. That's because they're confident
about what they're doing, don't feel worried that it's not REAL art, so
they try to prove a point with archivality. Same with the hand-coated
processes -- seem not as slick as factory paper, so they try to PROVE it's
valid by being, so to speak, holier than the pope. Who is the sharpest
gets to be the best "artist" or the best alt photographer, or...?

When this field is REALLY confident, we'll hear that about 5 times less
than formerly.

J.
Received on Fri Jan 30 14:26:34 2004