Inkt Vis Inkt (Prints)

In the summer of 2022, Alex got to work with a Riso printer for the first time. Taking a mix of hand-made and found spots, stripes and other simple shapes to make the master, he used black ink on a range of different papers, experimenting with taping separate sheets together, folding and re-printing.
The edges of each rectangle have code-generated Riso-esque edges (as opposed to a completely clean ones) and each rectangle has a little random nudge to suggest the imperfect registration when re-printing onto an existing Riso print. There are numerous examples of echoing an old print process with a new one, often because the new one is initially perceived less favourably. In textiles, multi-coloured block prints are registered (lined up) with pitch pins that leave tiny additional dots of colour on the fabric. These are used to line up each subsequent colour block. When copper roller printing began to replace block printing, it was seen as inferior, so the engravers would sometimes add tiny dots to mimic block print pitch pin marks. Unscrupulous merchants could then pretend the (cheaper to produce) copper roller prints were done with blocks. In fact, copper rollers or plates allow finer lines to be printed than any technology before or since.
As the Inkt Vis Inkt runs, the developing image provides feedback to the code. As new content from the library of Riso prints is added, its colour reacts to the section of the image already underneath it. Inkt Vis Inkt is Dutch for cuttlefish ink (sepia).
The code is written in Processing, running on a PC powered by electricity from 100% sustainable sources. All prints are archive quality, professionally giclée printed in the UK on acid-free, museum paper. Alex Russell hand-signs each one.

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