ABSTRACT
For those presently undertaking research and practice within the field of digitally printed textiles, inadequately defined boundaries can potentially lead to confusion and misunderstanding. This paper aims to clarify what is meant by the term digital print and locate authenticity within it, by drawing comparisons with photography in order to better explain some of the contextual issues that currently surround the digital printing of textiles.
The scope ranges from an initial idea formed as a digital file that is stored on a computer, to the act of depositing droplets of dye through the print heads of a digital printer as an image, which is subsequently steamed and fixed onto the fabric substrate. There are, however, many processes and techniques involved in digital printing, none of which are unique to the digital printing of textiles; each individual technique, according to Cambridge University's Andy Hopper, 'can also be used to manufacture high-value, high precision products such as flat-panel displays, printed electronics, and photovoltaic cells for power generators' (2010). Also, as author Sarah Braddock Clarke states, the computer is only a tool, so it is not the computer, but rather the artist or designer, who makes the 'aesthetic decisions' (2007: 178). Nonetheless, increasingly these technologies are providing complex, rewarding and aesthetically challenging opportunities for contemporary textile artists, designers and craftspersons.
- Benjamin, W. 1936. The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, London: Penguin.Google Scholar
- Braddock Clarke, S. E. and O'Mahony, M. 2007. Techno Textiles 2: Revolutionary Fabrics for Fashion and Design, London: Thames & Hudson.Google Scholar
- Collins. 1994. Collins English Dictionary, London: HarperCollins.Google Scholar
- Dewey, J. 1934. Art as Experience, New York: Perigee Books.Google Scholar
- Flusser, V. 1983. Towards a Philosophy of Photography, London: Reaktion.Google Scholar
- Hopper, A. 2010. Cambridge Ideas Change the World. DOI= http://www.cambridgenetwork.co.uk.htmlGoogle Scholar
- Latour, B. 1987. Science in Action, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
- Merleau-Ponty, M. 1960. 'Eye and Mind', in Merleau-Ponty's Essays on Painting, Illinois: Northwestern University Press.Google Scholar
- Russell, A. 2009. 'Alex Russell', in B. Quinn, Textile Designers: at the Cutting Edge, London: Laurence King.Google Scholar
Recommendations
A novel printing technique for highly integrated organic devices
A new printing technology is described, which is capable of printing metallic electrodes onto organic layers. Electrodes are defined on top of a sacrificial layer by optical or nano-imprint lithography. To increase the stability of the process the ...
Research on the Micro Metal Droplet Printing for MEMS Packaging
ICMTMA '11: Proceedings of the 2011 Third International Conference on Measuring Technology and Mechatronics Automation - Volume 03A pneumatic drop-on-demand (DOD) system has been developed to print micro metal droplet for micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) devices packaging. Solder droplets with mean size of 321.19μm and standard deviation of 2.897μm are obtained using the ...
The Application of Nano Porous Pvdf Beads in Solder Paste Printing
The porous beads were better crystallized and possessed greater relative surface than ordinary PVDF. With the 64G U disk (01005 more chip devices) production practice experience, analysis of characteristics of the equipment types, main parameters and ...
Comments