Magnetic field patterns

Finding order in nature from the start point of magnetic field patterns

To help me see connections between the magnetic patterns and organic structures I represented the magnetic patterns in other media:

Photograms// Painting// Drawing// Paper cutting// Screen

printing//

A photogram produces a section through a structure without losing detail – an image with no shadows.

As you can see in the sample there are many greys. This tonal effect was achieved using multiple exposures, and displacing the filings between each exposure, to create the effect of built up layers. I first exposed half the paper with the magnet placed beneath. Then I rotated the paper, removed the magnet, and exposed the other half.

This is one of my favourite photograms because it shows the stark contrast between order and chaos.

Because these photograms worked so well, I decided to develop the idea further. I took photos of things in nature that reminded me of magnetic field patterns. As I developed the photo I superimposed the iron filing patterns.

As I worked with the magnets I found it quite hard to manipulate the fields so I stopped working with actual magnets and progressed to recreating from memory the patterns using ink and paper, in order to get the overall look and feel.

Techniques used in this piece:

Brusho// Water colour// Soft pastel// Acrylic paint//

Artist Inspiration – Chris Ofili

I found that Brusho was very effective at producing that lined effect (black), which embodies many attributes of the filings form. I found that as the brush got dryer, it became rougher and dragged more. This made the texture and pattern more random.

The green pattern in the top corner was produced by covering a piece of moss with water colour paint, and pressing it onto the paper. Then the faint outline was highlighted with a fine liner. I wanted to use a form from nature to create a pattern. This mostly worked in that it produced a pattern, but this pattern is not an accurate representation of the ordered moss. The moss was not coated evenly, nor was the pressure applied evenly. Also, the moss became deformed as I pressed it into the paper. So I decided to abandon this technique.

Soft pastel (blue, pink and green) was the next method. Because it is so soft, the lightest stroke is picked up by the paper. I can mix and smudge colours with great ease, giving a wide range of colours and textures in the one piece.

Lastly, I used acrylic paint (grey, white and pink) to create depth and layers. I used a repeating brush pattern within the piece. It has the same underlying pattern as the filing forms, but with subdued colour and white overlaid. I find that this one bears the closest resemblance to objects in nature.

Drawing with ink and stamps:

This is one of my first attempts using ink. For this piece I made a few stamps out of lino because I wanted continuity of the individual shapes. This piece has simple components which are orderly, but are put together in a somewhat chaotic pattern; still resembling the magnets, but different. I used lots of ink on the stamp to make it stand out from the paper. Then I discovered that rolling over it as it dried created the white highlighting around it, by making the surrounding darker. This is my favourite technique so far because of its simplicity, and the way it makes the prints catch your eye.

Stencil:

Here I dabbled with the concept of removing rather than adding to a plain surface (paper). One of the benefits of this method is that you can choose the background (what you can see through it). Another aspect to this piece is that it has symmetry, another phenomenon in nature. This is where I started thinking about screen-printing....

Screen-printing

I added colour and texture to help make connections with similar patterns in nature

Techniques

Colour mixing // adding water// textured wallpaper//

letting ink seep through before// creasing// see through//

Artist Inspiration – Bruce McLean

I used colour to bring an element of randomness into the mix. But more than that, colour brings out things in memory that form does not. I started out with four pots of ink - yellow/ red/ blue/ black, which I randomly splodged onto the screen, so that the mixing process is visible on the piece. (See display sheet [1].) This produces graduated lines across the piece. Sometimes I’d change to a different colour squeegee halfway across. This gives a sharper line change, because it spreads out the new colour; but as that ink runs out, the original colour seeps back in.

After washing the screen and partially drying it, I put it back onto the printing frame and drew black ink through the screen. The effect of residual water on the screen led me to my next technique -

Adding water randomly onto the screen meant that the ink became thinner in certain places and blotchy in others which gave it a kind of texture. This technique is hard to get right, because it normally just makes the ink run. (See display sheet [2].)

I also added texture by placing textured wallpaper underneath the print paper to create a simple repeating pattern in the ink, giving an extra dimension to the piece. Combining colour with texture creates an extra layer of complexity. Texture helps the inks mix, and different colours bring out the texture.

With an uneven surface you get uneven distribution of ink. So I then tried to exaggerate this effect by placing triangular pieces of foam core on the print paper. This didn’t work. But the next process came out of cleaning up the mess this made. Because ink had seeped and collected under the screen in the air pockets made by the foam triangles, on the next run, the contribution of the residual ink caused softening of the edges of the print, and created a wider tonal range. (See display sheet [4])

Creasing

Creasing creates a disjointed effect, which distorts the print pattern in a somewhat random way. It was inspired by an earlier piece, where I had creased a piece of foam core to make these field lines. I feel that the image has been confused, and the piece detracts from its purpose. But this may give it a new purpose, which is that it is not the outcome (which you can see) but the processes that made it, which give it order.

See-through to show layers

I wanted to illustrate depth by off-setting one of the translucent images. This produces an echo or shadowing effect. I was interested in layers and the shapes they create. I find this piece hard to look at because it messes with my mind, because I can’t focus on it. This wrongly gives the impression of chaos. This reminded me of the quote, “Chaos is merely order waiting to be deciphered.” But to me this piece says, “Chaos is order that we cannot make sense of.”

Layer and process were the two words I wanted to show through my print work.

Individual layers can show order, but when put with other layers the effect can become a chaotic, hard to look at piece. This brings me to another point which is perspective, scale and viewpoint. Where you see something, how close you are to it, and any presuppositions you have change your bias to what you are viewing.

Process is simply an order of doing stuff; in this case printing. I used sequences in different orders to create processes. Does the process of making the print give the order of the print? Or does the final outcome count for everything?

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