The Art of the Maker – Craft, Design, and Technology in the 21st Century,
Carinna Parraman, University of the West England (UK)
Abstract: Invention, innovation, and insight are keywords for any technologist and designer working in the academic or commercial sector. In the 21st century, there is a wealth of new and emerging materials, alongside digital methods for the manufacture of products and services that are transforming and enhancing our lives. But it is also the age-old techniques and crafts traditions that demonstrate fundamental benchmarks in material culture that are the foundation for high-quality printing and fabrication today and in the future. And without these benchmarks in quality, we have no assurance as to diversity and quality over the ubiquitous and inadequate.
Exploring the future of printing and fabrication, new ways of thinking and working, alongside traditional methods of making, the talk presents a range of multi-disciplinary research undertaken at The Centre for Fine Print Research (CFPR). The talk includes case studies on the Centre’s research into new transformative technologies and novel print processes that forge crossovers between the hand-made, knowledge and materials, analogue and digital fabrication for practice-led design, physical and tactile surfaces, and reconstructing historic reprographic methods.
The CFPR is a key part of the art and design community at the University of the West of England, Bristol, UK. The Centre has been pioneering research in printing methods, technologies, and practices since 1998. Working with print practitioners, historians, and industries, its mission is to contemplate, understand, innovate, and disseminate research on all aspects of print history, fine art practice, manufacturing, and materials, from developing 3D printable ceramic materials to disruptive printing technologies and developing new inks.
Carinna Parraman is a professor of design, colour, and print, and director of the Centre for Fine Print Research, University of the West of England, Bristol, UK. She is PI for a £7.7 million project funded by Research England (E3) in recognition of the Centre’s internationally acclaimed practical research into the artistic, historical, and industrial significance of creative print practices, processes, and technologies. She is a specialist in colour printing, RGB printing, texture printing also called 2.5D printing, photomechanical print history, colour theory, and perception within the fields of fine art, design, and the applied arts, in particular the craft of the digital. Her research interest addresses the relationship between the appearance of colour and materials, and how these are captured and reproduced in paintings and photographs. She recently published a book on “2.5D Printing: Bridging the Gap Between 2D and 3D Applications” (Wiley, 2018); and is co-participant of Appearance Printing - European Advanced Research School (ApPEARS, Norway). She is currently exploring paper construction, origami, and paper engineering for new applications. She is a collector of historic colour paint charts, and has been expanding this collection by photographing colours in the world via the Instagram #colouraday.