CREIGHTON MICHAEL

Edition Suites 

It was sometime in the mid 1970’s that I first became aware of the fabled approach used by László Moholy-Nagy in the creation of his 1922 Telephone Paintings. Employing the technology of the time, Moholy-Nagy directed a sign painter via the telephone to make five new works. This act of disengagement and an artist’s ability to abdicate creative responsibility fascinated me. I had applied a similar strategy in developing Shadows Trilogy and to earlier installation works such as Grid and Squiggle.

But with Punctuation, I would attempt to replicate Moholy-Nagy’s original process. Nine digital files, seven with previous drawing activity and two-color samples were emailed to Christopher Shore at the Center for Contemporary Printmaking in Norwalk, with instructions to create as many unique solar-plate, intaglio prints as possible. No further communication or instructions would occur until the prints were finished and ready to be signed. Following the success of Punctuation, Chris suggested we do another set of unique intaglio prints. On this project, I emailed Chris fifteen new digital files reflecting current work. I asked him to choose combinations of two to three files. Instead of giving him color swatches as I had with Punctuation, I suggested that he make selections from the hues and shades present in some of the files that were sent. As with Punctuation, there was no predetermined image or outcome, only a recommended process. During the next months the INd Print Project morphed into a limited edition of both intaglio and digital prints, producing conversations between the different printing processes and outcomes.