Month: June 2020

This group tutorial led by Jonathan was a repeat of last year’s session with one significant difference. Not necessarily the proximity of the final show and resolution of the two year’s work but an identification, on Jonathan’s request, of the strengths and weakness of the process as well as complementary reflective activities.

We were divided into groups of three. Two people doing one job. The system works with larger groups but not too large. There is a danger with just two questioners as the session can become rather intense. The original ideal number is four or five and is most effective over a three to four-hour session.

Ask only open questions

The questions must meet two (hypothetical) conditions:

• you do not know the answer to the questions you ask;
• questions are asked to help the person who brings the problem in search of answers.

This is based on two beliefs:

• that we all have an inner teacher who knows what we need better than anyone;
• that to access this teacher we need to be in community.

Community helps: to ‘hear you into speech’ (Nell Morton, a feminist theologian).

It is very difficult to ask honest, open questions. This supports the adage, great scholar = great listener. The approach is to have so much respect for what it is you are researching that you do not want to impose what it should be that you are listening to. On the contrary, you want to hear what the work is saying. This is the essence of research.

Structure

6 minutes of silence (think about a problem, challenge, choice to be made: what you want to know about your work.

20 minutes open questions from the other two in the group.

3 minutes to reflect and write thoughts (all three people)

Repeat the 20 minutes and 3 minutes

Do not give opinions or directions.

Feedback

• This is a valuable exercise in reflective listening.
• This does not work so well with practical/technical question because you are looking for a solution to a practical problem.
• There is also a place for directional input which can help to avoid costly mistakes.
• Silent crits also have their place because they avoid argument and give the listener time to assimilate what has been said without having to reply in the moment.

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My Session

The session was interesting and helped me clarify certain aspects of my work and preparation for the final show. Unfortunately, the recording has been lost as have my notes for it.

I can remember though that I was able to resolve how to install the work in a light environment rather than a dark one. That the work be incised with words in some cases, that the trinity piece should be encased in a vitrine, the problem of how much should the narrative be explicatory. My responses were affirmations of what I was thinking, (thinking that I have documented since).

Pure Data appears quite daunting to start with but the session gradually led to a better understanding of what and how can be done, at least at a simple level. I soon abandoned note taking and just listened and tried to absorb as much of the process as possible. What I take from the workshop is a sense of the workflow and how elements relate to one another even if I do not understand things in detail.

The glossary link is very useful because there is one thing about a lot of open-source software, that is, the manuals and instructions beyond the very basic are often impenetrable due to the jargon used and assumptions made.

http://write.flossmanuals.net/pure-data/glossary/

There are a number of tutorials on youtube which show step by step how to create a patch (a piece of functional software that can be added to others in a connected flow of actions or stands alone).

Whether I use pure data in the final show or not depends on what will be the final sound elements. I just cannot afford to spend the time learning how to use it at the expense of making the work. There are always workarounds. However, I may still use some pure data in the work, and certainly in the future.

Run by Roxanne Peters and Adam

This workshop built on an IP workshop during the 2019 Low Residency. Roxanne works at UAL in the area of rights, intellectual property and ethical practices. Adam delivers zine workshops and puts the outcomes on ual.amazines Instagram account… but only after asking permission from those that make them.

The starting question, What is the value of sharing work on social media? started off a morning considering the implications of showing work online and using others’ work as a source. This was followed by a fast-moving hour making an eight-page zine from scratch using random printed material.

Kelda delivers a zine-making workshop at her primary school about twice a year; it gives children the freedom they do not normally have. Ken Robinson says that we need to think differently about education and go back to a childlike curiosity and not worry so much about how it looks. Feedback from workshops is that it is a nice therapy. 26 students at Conway Hall worked for 2 hours in silence. It was a way of getting ideas out them and relax at the same time.

Zines are a way of reapproaching digital work and subjectively asserting one’s own values.

Example of Intellectual Property Issues

Questions arise when appropriating the work of others; are their rights being infringed? There are cases when this is debatable. For example, working on a manifesto, the public interest may override other considerations. How to identify and balance priorities becomes important in the context of how we treat each other and not compromise one another.

Examples of IP issues

Students creating mashups or parodies using different sources in pop culture wanting to create T-shirts. One student keen to make sure he did not infringe copyright, getting interest from the US market contacted a lawyer. He was advised that you do not always necessarily need to get copyright, under fair dealing which covers parody. One can also contact the copyright owner with the intention of entering into a contract for permission to use their material. The important thing is transparency.

Apparently, you do not own your copyright if you include your work in a zine of your own making and still obviously do not own the copyright of other appropriations.

There is a case of an industry partner having been inspired by a student’s work and not credited the student’s work.

The UK does not have a law controlling image rights law when it comes to the likeness of someone. This, however, does not apply to the image itself.

This can create a problem when using a likeness for endorsement without the permission of the person whose likeness it is. This can lead the public to believe that the person in question endorses that idea or product.

Pertinent Questions to ask myself when summing up my practice

Who or what motivates you to create?

Who are you inspired by and why?

Identify three words/sentences that sums up your creative practice

Zine-making Activity

Talked about the ethics of practice and how it affects others. This is a very large area for discussion (in the context of how do UAL students ask this question).

There is also work being done on unconscious bias in the context of unconscious infringement of someone else’s values or rights.

Regarding Social Media

What is the value of sharing your work on social media?

What are the questions you have about social media and IP

Also look at the idea of value. Explore the word value.

Talked about the ethics of practice and how it affects others. This is a very large area for discussion (in the context of how do UAL students ask this question).

We were given one hour to complete a zine. I was concerned about how I would make a zine on seeing the material available. I took this as a challenge. It required concentration and speedy thinking. It was immensely enjoyable and satisfying resulting in something, considering the condition I am pleased with.

This exercise has made me want to do more of this kind of work and perhaps make a collection of small, informal publications on a variety of themes.

Hosted by Senior Curator Doug Dodds and Curator of Digital Art Melanie Lenz.

The V&A visit was something that I was intrigued about. What impression would I get from seeing art generated by machines, both mechanical and computational? I was pleasantly surprised by the delicacy of the early work. Reminiscent of Harmonographs and their derivatives. The works gave me a sense of nostalgia: a throwback to the sixties and science fiction, textbook illustrations and works that were on the edge of acceptance. There was a strong sense of aesthetics running throughout all of the drawings, prints, plots.

I think that the fact that most of the works were drawn in ink on paper, often art paper, gave them a sense of clean style and deliberately orientated towards creating an artistic outcome. It was interesting that the last two prints by Lomas and Latham were appreciated somewhat less. Albeit that Lomas’ work is exquisitely wrought by the algorithm that generated it, somehow there is a sense of ordinariness about it. Perhaps because they are photographs and they do not possess that material feel left by the traces of a pen with ink. Perhaps it because of the ubiquity of the plethora of complex imagery that floods our sensory world today. Or maybe the earlier works have that aura of uniqueness, often being sole samples of a machine’s restrainedly stochastic production.

In the few works that we were shown, the transition from analogue drawing to digital rendering is a distinct boundary in the development of machine art. In some cases, however, the means of production are practically indistinguishable. The earlier works were often made as exploratory curiosities, often prized by their makers but derided by the general public as travesties of art. There is the case of Harold Cohen, celebrated painter, Venice Biennale representative for Britain, descending into near obscurity having set aside his brushes and paints in favour of programming and mechanical hardware. His turtle drawings have the look and feel of something having been drawing on a tablet today, save for the fact that the ink is delivered from a pen attached to a moving bot programmed to choreograph the lines.

There does seem to be a difference in feel between plotted lines from a pen and scans across the paper by an array of nozzles or laser light sources. Perhaps the difference is academic, maybe a subtle variance in aesthetic, or simply, a pen held by a mechanical ‘hand’ or a human hand has a physicality, that today’s printers cannot or do not emulate.

Whatever the training or vocation of each individual, it is clear that in each case the intention was an aesthetic one. Today’s idea of process or concept overriding outcome does not seem to be the thing. It could be that the workers were intent on proving that a machine can be used to produce something beautiful with sensitivity in the face of criticisms that say, ‘this is not art’. In some cases, the stated intention was to codify the aesthetics and beauty contained in maths. In other cases, to codify the growth of organic form and or see how far they could go in humanising the machine.

I see it principally as a quest based on curiosity. What can be done using a machine, how can we humans, the rule-makers regarding beauty, deal with machines making manifest those rules or even making the rules themselves: what is the nature of nature and creativity. It is an expression of reaching for the divine by being the ex Machina of the machine and perhaps even giving/allowing it a will of its own.

The question still remains in my mind. How does this compare to art created by humans? To my mind, the works created by machines, generative art, plotted art, the programmed design seems in retrospect rather whimsical. Today’s complex marvels may also appear whimsical in the future. The production of imagery today, approaches perfection of making to my eyes, is this too much, even when it appears chaotic? Whether future generations will crave the imperfection of limited hand-making in a perfectly designed, manufactured machine world, where the imagination is matched by the possible, who knows?  No doubt there is room for both. They satisfy different paradigms that exist in a fluctuating relationship within a broader field. Artists and artisans have strived throughout history to create the perfect thing. That task has been taken out of our hands. The divergence of the ‘perfect’ and the ‘imperfect’ has now acquired a new meaning. We have entered a new world moved on from the Renaissance humanism. It appears we no longer focus on the divine in the human but search for what is human in the machine.

Interesting seminal catalogue: Cybernetic Serendipity, ICA, Studio International, Special Issue 25s

The workshop, taken by Dave from the South Kiosk Gallery and Barney, took place in two parts. The first was about background and technical information about working with sound in general and multichannel working in particular, including technical matters. The second part was a practical group activity to conceive of and bring about a short acoustic work using multichannel techniques.

Multichannel Software

Cakewalk is free

Reaper is free but after the trial period a pop up reminds you to pay for a licence but it continues to be free. The licence is $60 for non-commercial use and $225 for commercial use. Reaper routing is simpler than Ableton.

Ableton Live 10 not free. 3 licences: Basic £69, Standard £319, Suite £539. This is the most powerful software, especially for live mixing. If not, Pure Data live can be used but it is less intuitive.

Fruitiloops is not free- full feature £700, basic £150 The full feature has fruitloop plugins.

Introduction

Setting up your own system.

There are different ways of doing multichannel work

Speakers
Not all speakers in a system have to be of the same type. Passive speakers are not self-powered. Their advantage is that you do not have to have a power supply for each and you do not have to protect power cables when working outdoors. Active speakers, on the other hand, can be jacked into an audio interface directly without the need for amplifiers. Canopy speakers are contained in boxes sealed from the environment. Speakers can look different and they don’t have to be in black boxes. They can form part of an aesthetic to suit specific aims and needs. Tweeters carry high frequencies and are the smallest part of a speaker system.

Spaces
It can be difficult to find a space that is suitable for a given sound work. Sometimes it is better to work with the space and create work specifically for it. It is important to experiment in the space which requires more time than importing a finished work – this has to be allowed for. Most galleries are not acoustically treated so it can be difficult to create multichannel work and sounds can end up in a mess.

Cabling
Cable management is important. It can be done informally or aesthetially tidy. Beware that, daisy chain connecting can be messey, lossey and introduce noise.

Audio Interfaces
Are for audio to digital conversion. The interface connects to the amplifier. It allows you to put microphones into the computer , record and output to speakers.

Object-Based Mixing
Is where one speaker is dedicated to one sound or channel. This way of working is cleaner, easier to balance sounds and individuals can be moved around to improve the acoustic response.

Amps
8 channel amp is very versatile [but can be expensive]

Ambi sonics
This is a method of working with sound, recording, and outputting domes of sound where the sound is 360 degress rather than just horizontal.

Max MSP
A single licence can be used with multiple logins on any computers which makes it ideal for group buying.

Windows vs Mac
Windows is less integrated with lots going on behind using third-party software. Mac is much easier as you can do everything on the one system.

Sound
Vibration in air but it can travel through liquids faster [2.5 times]. Hearing frequency is between 20 – 20000Hz

There is infra (low) and ultra (high) sound. Insects use both ultra and infrasound.

Stories about sound.

Tandy Haunting
British It engineer and lecturer. He felt somebody was standing behind. When he turned to see, they had gone. This was infrasound. When he returned to the lab the next day, He saw there was a fencing saw vibrating in the lab at around 20Hz due to a fan nearby. This created the sensation of something invisible in the area. This points to the physicality of sound.  Need very large monitors. Infrasound can cause optical hallucinations, feel as though you are touched. Feel sad, that is pressure on the chest. Depressed and heart. This has ethical implications when using sound in a public context.

Alternative Well-being

Alvar Aalto
Paimio Sanatorium. He created a sink at a specific angle so the sound of water hitting the basin was minimised making it was almost unhearable. He created window blinds that block sound from outside and do not move against each other or collect dust.

Brian Eno and John Hopkins – Wavepaths
Using multichannel lights and sounds replicated brain waves demonstrating how sound can be created to influence people.

Sensory depravation, sorounded in silence is also something used in aerial Relaxation Pods.

Nelo Akamatsu – Chijikinkutso
Using geomagnetism to create sounds by hitting magnets against cups – changing magnetic fields [the hum of a transformer?].

There is a responsibility when using sound because it can affect people psychologically.  Sound processing disorder, not talked much about.

Noise Abatement Society

Sound describes the uncanny

Lawrence Abu Hamdan
Sound researcher, talks about sonic spaces where politics are worked out.

The Bloop
In 1997, the bloop was heard in Pacific stations over 5000km apart. This captured the imagination. Theories emerged about monsters, prehistoric creatures etc. The sound was not Man-made. It turns out that it was an icequake.

Mass Strandings
[Sound has a psychological effect] can make people feel sick, scared. Whale mass suicides due to the sound of ships. The metal of the ships acts as speakers.

Acoustic Defence

e.g. Psychotherapy -Music played outside noisy night clubs used different forms of sound using multichannel sounds to change people’s aggressive behaviour as well as music to deter young people from congregating in public areas such as shopping malls.

Acoustic defences using parabolic shells used to listen for enemy aircraft at the start of WWII.

Palaeolithic Caves were chosen for their acoustics, reverb, like churches. It has been suggested. The caves are deep and echo so when an intruder enters they can be heard: a form of alarm.

The Ear

Is a sonic instrument

Ear canal hears 60% and the cranial bone about 40% which is how cochlear implants work [and swimming headphones].

Organ of Corti – Fransces Crow and David Prior using Photonic Crystal array.

We are not always aware of how sound is affecting us, and we are continually processing a great deal of information which affects us physically.

There is a parallel between speaker and microphone, they are the same in fact and are analagous to how the ear works.

The main part of the brain affected by sound is the Limbic system comprising the hyptohalamus, Thalamus, Amygdala and Hippocampus.

Thalamus: processes sense except smell and divides it out,

Amydala: emotional responses

Hypocampus: memory, interacts with amygdala,

Hypothalamus: controls flight or fight.
(concern for sound outside the visual perimeter where its source cannot be identified.

Music Boosts Brain Activity

Linda Maguire (music and dementia patients)
Music can evoke emotional responses that provokes memory and intellectual activity.

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Workshop Brief

2 minute sound work for an 8 channel (8 speakers) sound system

Think about creating space and distance

Workshop work

Readings of text in contradictory ways and playing these simultaneously.

The purpose of this collaboration, was to explore the process using words

The group comprised: Pav, Betty, KK and myself.

Methodology

The collaboration started with the process and not the content. The use of words as acoustic elements were chosen to confer meaning to this process. We were not sure of the purpose at the start which gradually emerged during the making. In the context of this process, the audience is invited to physically participate in a choreography of their own making. In the end, there is perhaps no clarity in the narrative which might reflect on the nature of communication itself.

The ideal acoustic vision for the work is to have a confusing muddle in the middle of the room. As you approach different areas of the room you begin to distinguish the individual voices and perceive the contradictory words that are being spoken.

The text is contradictory, and the variance is further underlined by the spectrum of voices and intonations pronouncing the words.

The voices allude to the manifold nature of meaning and inference.

The recordings were made in situ, and environmental intrusions can be heard as a disruption layering a contingent element over the linear narrative, such as the siren may suggest an altered context than might otherwise be inferred.

The words were chosen as representations of antithetical ideas which become evident as one approaches each individual pair of speakers precipitating out of the chaotic but ordered noise.

The tracks were left with their background noise to indicate the lack of clarity inherent in verbal communication.

Smile Sun Courage love Full Safe Certainty Early Pride Hero Life Silent Friend Construction Single Beautiful Thought Fire Growth Black Interesting True Neat pure

frown Rain fear Hate Empty Dangerous Uncertainty Late Humilty Villain Death Noisy Enemy Destruction Multiple Ugly emotion Water Decay White Boring False Diluted tainted

Sample Recording
The sample below is a part of the recordings made for multichannel live play. An eight channel mixed down into one stereo track cannot demonstrate the balancing and panning of each channel.

Title
Precisely Inexact
The words are exact but the meaning is inprecise.

Response from others

The audience’s response waned towards the end and one has to find a way of maintaining interest.

Written 20 February

Before I write about the group tutorial…

This was an interesting day. It started with finding that the database on my blog had disappeared. I was presented with a blog site that looked as though I had never posted a single word on it or changed any aspect of the design. So what to do. Take a deep breath in the knowledge I was fully backed up, something I checked in the evening. It was strange because there was no sign of a hack. A day later I checked the files on my host and found that all the images in the media library and other files were on the face of it intact. The only thing I can think of is that someone hacked the database for some reason, no real advantage would be gained from this, or my host had misplaced the data in some way. Perhaps changing the location of the database to another server and losing it along the way. In any case, with the backup file, which includes the last post I made, I can restore the site and even load the information onto another blog, even wordpress.com. Thank goodness for backing up. When I return home, I shall follow up the host and find out what has happened, then I can proceed with the correct approach to bringing the blog back to life. In the meantime, I shall continue writing the blog content on the laptop ready for transfer.

Subsequent to this, on returning home, I found that the database has indeed been hacked and erased and that I was not fully backed up. I did have a record of the post coding, however. Together with the image files, I was able to painstakingly reconstruct the site as I have documented previously.

Kaori Homma, started by clearly stating that she was interested in how the work we are engaged in will translate into future practice. I began by giving a brief overview of my background, how I came to work the way I do, what I hoped to gain from the course, and finally the delineation of a future trajectory.

Having found I had no blog to refer to for my tutorial, and knowing that showing unprepared images can badly affect the flow of a talk, I decided to describe in words the what, the why and the how of what I do.

I was able to record the session which will prove invaluable when I come to revisit the experience.

Right now I should like to focus on the salient issue that Kaori identified from my description. I explained that words, in the form of writing had become a greater part of my practice. Writing has become a thread that ties together what I had described at the beginning of the course as the disparate nature of what I do. It is a way of clarifying ideas, intentions and responses. In this regard, it is at the rational end of my activities. I also described how the work has moved from Chaos Contained as an externally derived, rational approach with an internal motivation to something more internal and poetic.

Kaori expressed a concern that I am creating a division between the rational and the irrational, using language at one end of the spectrum and the work at the other. Janet has also expressed this a number of times. Kaori also stated her idea that language not only takes the form of words but also other forms and means of expression. I totally agreed with this and went on to explain that I see my use of words as running along a spectrum, from the irrational utterings of Glossolalia which attempt to convey meaning without sematic significance all the way to critical writing. There is a meeting point between the two ends where I have engaged in poetic prose which uses the rigour of syntax and grammar to express ideas that can be irrational, about feeling and emotions that are difficult to articulate. I do not see the two domains as separate but as parts of a spectrum, or better described as a nexus. The word nexus better indicates a layering of spectra and intersections that are too complex to disentangle: a form of chaotic order.

What I take from this conversation is that I must be aware when explicating what I do, and in the work itself, not to create an implied dichotomy but to make clear that words are just one form of language and that I do not use them only rationally. What this has led me to think is how to incorporate the physical manifestation of the word in the large sculpture. I have had an idea which will enrich the work and engage at two levels, distance and conceptual.

For example, this has subsequently taken the form of the incorporation of text onto the surface of Logos.

On Tuesday we did cyanotype printing in a workshop led by Matt Lee and Smriti Mehta who gave an artist’s talk back in November. The activity was very enjoyable and it gave me a great number of ideas for working in the future. It seemed a good way of sketching out ideas in a completely different medium to those I usually use bringing fresh inspiration.

The workshop was simple and direct with easy to follow instructions which made for an experience that can practically be taken away and done elsewhere without difficulty. I particularly liked the way we collaged transparency images. I do not usually like collage, but this method seemed to me to have a purposefulness and elegant flexibility that engaged me more than I thought it would have. The source materials we were given were both of high quality and coherent, taken from the British Library Qatar Foundation project.

For more information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyanotype

Materials

• Acetate sheet with tracing paper.
• Scissors
• Sellotape
• Images printed on acetate. The images were printed using a laser printer. However, an inkjet can be used so long as the acetate is made specifically for use with such printers. In the case of inkjets, it is best to print black with colour and not just greyscale to ensure the print layer is dense enough for a sufficiently contrasted negative.
• Chemicals: potassium ferrocyanide and ferric ammonium citrate for preparing the paper. Citric acid for washing or developing the print. Hydrogen peroxide can also be used as well as lemon juice, and vinegar.
• The chemicals can be bought from Amazon for around £20 and the two bottles make up a very large quantity of sensitised paper.
• Watercolour paper. Heavy paper absorbs the sensitising fluid more readily and dries more quickly and flat.
• Sponge brush, easier to use and delivers a more even coating of sensitiser than a normal brush.
• UV lamp or sunlight.

Method

The Negative

The image was built up using the acetate prints fixed to a sheet of acetate using sellotape. [the tape does tend to show a little in the final print as it absorbs a small amount of UV light, but the effect is negligible or not at all.

It is best to avoid layering one piece of print over another as the thickened acetate and over-layering of print ink can create areas where light is unable to pass through properly and spoil contrast and composition. It is best, where possible to cut and fit pieces together.

The Paper

The paper is sensitised using a solution made of the two chemicals in a ratio of 1:1. Make sure the measurement is as accurate as possible. The made-up solution will last a while but it is best to use it the same day. It can be used to prepare lots of sheets of paper which can be stored in a light tight box for several days. Around 20ml of each solution to make 40ml was ample for around 20 A4 sheets of paper.

When coating the paper, the solution can be spread using the sponge brush. The best results appeared with one or two coats. I preferred using two light coats making sure the first is dry before applying the second.

The paper is left to dry thoroughly before printing. It is best to leave sensitised paper in as dark a place as possible. In the studio, the fluorescent lights fogged many of the sheet to varying degrees. The less fogging results in a deeper, richer Prussian blue and better contrasts.  It is best to store in a sealed black bag or box and keep away from daylight altogether.

Printing

The negative is placed with the inked surface facing the paper. This way, the edges of the images have maximum sharpness and definition. The two layers are then covered with a piece of glass. Perspex can be used but it is not advisable as acrylic absorbs more UV that glass increasing exposure times. The glass presses the negative and paper together to ensure there is no light leakage which can give rise to blurred images (not altogether undesirable with some images). The paper is now ready for exposure. Whether exposed under a lamp or sunlight, the whole sandwich needs to be supported by a flat surface such as a board.

Exposure

The prints were exposed in UV boxes for around 15 minutes. Prints can also be exposed in sunlight, even on a cloudy day, but in the case of the latter, the exposure time may be much much longer. It is all a matter of experimentation.

When the paper surface has turned grey, the print is ready to be washed. Again, trial and error is best for ascertaining exposure times. Much depends on the light source, the negative and paper as well as the thickness of sensitising coat. We were unable to assess the correct exposure because the lightboxes were closed, so a time based on experience was used of around fifteen minutes.

Development

Initially, prints come out dark and indistinct. When washed in the citric acid, the image was fully developed after around one to two minutes. Any longer and the image may start to bleach. The concentration of the citric acid bath also determines the colour of the print and the richness of the dark areas. The developer is best made up using distilled water as calcium in hard water affects the reaction.

Other reagents can be used for developing including vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, lemon juice. Each one can result in different intensity and hue of blue.

Washing

The print is finally thoroughly washed in water, preferably running water until no more colour runs off it.

Drying

The print is then hung and left until dry. It can also be put between blotting papers. Water colour paper will dry flat whereas other papers such as cartridge have to be put under a heavy weight.

Toning

The print can be left as cyan or toned using a variety of toners, all of which contain tanning which binds with the iron to give varying hues of brown to black.

When toning, the print has to be bleached first.

Bleaches

• Sodium carbonate
• Ammonia
• Clorox
• TSP
• Borax
• Bleach can also be used but it does tend to destroy the paper base.

Toners

• Coffee
• Tea
• Urine
• Wine
• Tannic acid
• Pyrogallic acid

Method

The image is bleached until the image just disappears and then thoroughly washed to avoid losing highlight details. It is then soaked in the toner and left until the desired colour and saturation is reached.

Some toners darken the paper base more than others. Those that do, need more contrasty negatives to ensure the image has a good tonal range.

Archival Quality

If archiving properties are desired, neutral ph, natural fibre papers such as linen and cotton are best. But the sensitising solution will adhere to any absorbent surface. Non porous materials need to be coated with gelatin first.

Regenerative Nature

Cyanotypes fade with prolonged exposure to light. The original tone can often be restored by placing the print in the dark for a while.

Cloth

Printed cloth (natural materials such as silk, cotton and linen) should be washed by hand with a soap that does not contain phosphates as this turns the cyan to yellow.