Linoleum cut printimation

Death9

These are some lousy test prints (I have no skill as a printer plus I used cheap water-based ink and cheap thin waste paper) I made of some linoleum print plates I designed and “cut” with the laser engraver at the local Fab Lab. The plates are to be part of a larger project with many artist participants, organized in Germany; I’ll write about it when it’s properly printed and officially released. My understanding is it’s about how the advent of the printing press led to the explosion of a unique kind of illustration: the wood-cut. Since I think the internet is in many ways analogous to the printing press, I saw a parallel in its own new kind of illustration: the animated gif. So my (linoleum) “wood-cuts” were designed to end up as animated gifs. When the project is done I will use the final, better prints to make better versions of these loops. But patience is not one of my virtues and I am excited about the test animated gifs I made from my lousy test prints, and when I make an animated gif I can’t wait to post it, so I didn’t wait, so here:

DeathCut movie1

Here’s a phenakistoscope from another print, using the same all-purpose goat in our Chad Gadya embroidermation:

GoatCutPhenakistoscope

GoatCut closeup1

Some photos of the linoleum plates themselves:

GoatLinoleum

 

The plate on the right is of the “Death” animation; on the left is my test plate, which I used to gauge the laser engraver. I also did some hand-gouging on it, confirming I’d rather use a machine.DeathLinoleum

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Author: Nina Paley

Animator. Director. Artist. Scapegoat.

7 thoughts on “Linoleum cut printimation”

  1. What you consider less than perfect printing only adds to the impact of the subject. This is amazing. Looking forward to the project you mentioned.

  2. Wow! these are actually amazing, and the hand printed look lends them a great ancient feeling. Like gifs from another century.

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