Week Two

Contemporary chop, 2008, Made in China

Rock painting by Sophie Grant, Sept.,2012

The fact we have gone from the invention written language to the Internet age in roughly 5000 years is remarkable. The need to communicate has always been a driving force.  This drive has taken us from petroglyphs to the ancient writing of hieroglypics and cuneiform to Hangul, (Korean), Greek and Roman alphabets. The democratization of knowledge has been enabled through the written word. According to Megg’s History of Graphic Design, “Alphabets put literacy within the reach of ordinary people.” The invention of printing by the Chinese made China the “first society in which ordinary people had daily contact with printed images.” In the West, small, illuminated manuscripts were easy to transport and further enabled the dissemination of knowledge. Like early computers, huge manuscripts were extremely expensive and time consuming to make. They were reserved the privileged few. A large manuscript could require the "skins of three hundred sheep."  Paper, invented by the Chinese, became the cheap alternative to parchment and vellum. Attempts at moveable type, possibly with the Phaistos Disk (as early as 2000BCE), and then with bronze in Korea continued the pursuit of communication. Unfortunately both technologies had their flaws.  The beautiful illuminations in Celtic, Spanish, Roman, Gothic, Judaic and Islamic manuscripts used imagery to entice and to educate. 

Contemporary petroglyphs, 2012. Encinal Afterschool.

I couldn't resist showing off the beautiful chop given to me in China. I was finally able to make a good impression on rice paper.  I figured out it helps to slam the chop with force. I also used a thin magazine below to provide a bit of cushion. This chop is an example of relief printing.  It has both positive and negative carving as found during the Han Dynasty (300CE - 500CE).  I am also including some contemporary petroglyphs made by my after school students at Encinal Elementary, Menlo Park.  The students 'carved' their images with sharp tools into foam core. They rolled  tempura paint over the surface with brayers and sponges  to give a 'stone' look.  The students also did rock painting with pastel on brown paper.