Karissa Sardinha

As mentioned in my previous posts I have decided the most logical route was to put all my pieces in a book. I could have made the book I suppose, but a) I did not have the time to do that with exams around me, and b) it would not have been the most professionally looking book out there. I instead went hunting on the internet for some self publishing websites and compared prices versus quality and ended up going with a website called Artifact Uprising ( http://www.artifactuprising.com/site/home), which I would highly recomment to people becuase for the brief second that I was able to flip through my book before I handed it in I was very impressed with the quality. I do have some things I would have liked to change and I probably will in the summer. The book is 5.5×5.5 inches which I thought would have been big enough, but when I actually looked at the book I do wish It would have been a bit bigger, but nonetheless I am still extremely proud of it. I also have a few extra blank pages at the end, so I figured that I could get people to sign it  or have them critique it eventually, just to comment in it. Over the summer I would like to hopefully pursue more of these and eventually make another book with even more digital prints.  Over all the semester was extremely successful to me on a personal level; It was one of my favorite classes, and pushed me out of my comfort zone in terms of using technology (aka photoshop).

I am really bad at titles, so it took me a while to figure out what  to name the book. It seemed wrong to have it untitled, it would have been incomplete in a sense. I chose the title “Spectator”  because my theme in this past project (aside from the syfy genre)  has been about observing others. The children in the prints are the spectators, they do not have any identity to them for they are simply just outlines, “empty shells”. The characters “inside” the televisions are looking off screen as to be observing something that we the audience cannot see.  In some images they go so far as to look directly at the audience as if to acknowledge their presence.  We are all merely observers (spectators) of our world just as the characters in the shows are observers of their world. The Doctor explores space and time observing the changes that happen throughout history; Rod Serling narrates the observations to the audience in The Twilight Zone; The enterprises’ mission is “the explore strange new worlds”.  These all deal with being spectators in their own environment, just as the audience is a spectator to them.

I had ordered the book online about a week and a half prior to when it was supposed to be handed in, knowing that if it did not come in on the tuesday that it was due I had a few extra days. However, I got lucky enough for it to come in on the tuesday that it was due, however I had ordered it to my parents house in Leamington just to be safe. My father was kind enough to bring it up with him to work/drop it off afterwards, but in the process of doing so, also made me almost late for the final class. I had enough time to look it over once and then throw it into my portfolio. I do wish I had a bit more time to go over it, but I am extremely glad that it came in on time. I did not have time to take a picture of it but I think this may do (the front and back cover):

I tried using the soft ground on my plates, one using bubble wrap, and the other using string. They came up with some pretty interesting effects. I left them in the acid bath for a good 2 hours, and it looks as if they had been barely touched. However, I was lucky enough for them to be deep enough to print. I combined them with various other images that I had etched and these were the outcomes:

I have way too many prints in general; displaying them all would take up a lot of space. Plus, I can stick with my original idea of “making a book” except I’ve decided to just get it published (hopefully it comes in on time!). I also felt like it completed my idea. I’ll elaborate on this concept later.