STAMPING
the process of imprinting a design from one surface onto another surface
The Origins:
The children of Room 7 were introduced to letter stamps and ink during the first week of school. They noticed that when they pressed the block stamp down, the image transferred from the shape on the block onto the paper.
Iterations of Active Work
From recycled scraps to saved watercolor work and paper towels, the children showed excitement to stamp on any surface. Each interaction with block stamping required the children to use the web space between their index finger and thumb to complete a repeated
Holding the paper and stamping in a specific spot on a surface required
motor sequence.
bi-lateral planning and visual
perceptual reasoning.
an emerging interest in
Duplication
The children became interested in what other shapes and forms could be replicated with ink so they began dipping all sides of the stamp block and their hands into the ink and onto the paper.
The process was repeated many times, making duplicates.
Printmaking
Printmaking
Printmaking
the language of duplication and transference
The teaching team worked with our Atelierista to introduce printmaking as a path to investigate duplication. By applying ink to one surface (a plate) and pressing paper onto it, a reproduction (print) was born. When paper is pressed against the plate, the ink transfers, reproducing the original marks.
“Is it ready? Yes, I think so!”
“Through printmaking, an image on one surface magically transfers to another surface like a shadow of itself. Altered but eerily similar.”
-Stephanie Stein, Atelierista
“It went here, it copied this from here!”
Monoprint:
An image that has been painted directly on a plate and then printed or transferred to another surface.
“Cover the whole world.”
Collography
Continued printmaking
methods:
Collograph:
a collage of materials and found objects with various textures glued on to a printing plate
The children use their own stylistic and preferential reasoning to select objects and decide their spacial relationship on the custom plate before inking up and pulling the print. Their relationship with collage prepared this evolution in printmaking.
Collography is a marriage of two primary languages the children have been exploring this year— collage and printmaking.
Carbon paper
Another path taken to further explore the art of duplication was the use of carbon paper. Sandwiched between two pieces of blank paper, carbon paper was used as a transferring catalyst for the children’s marks to duplicate.
After using both graphite and colored pencils, they flipped their papers to discover their work instantly copied. This element of anticipation and surprise fueled excited conversation and shared wonderment of how duplication can manifest.
“Look! Look at my copy!”
“Who did that? A copy!”
“How does it do that?”
Reflection:
At its core, the desire to recognize and produce duplicates is keen attention to pattern and detail. As the year progressed, this investigation opened the children’s eyes to the world around them. In the Atelier, they noticed their skin would appear on the screen while working with the digital microscope. When the projector transferred shapes and images to the wall, they would move and block the shapes to try and understand how the projector worked. Clay perfectly captured impressions
of beads and other materials. Even
their language evolved
from “I can’t draw
a circle” to “look at my
circle” when they
discovered how to trace
the shape as a guide
onto their paper.
life’s infinite canvas of duplicates
Some would say it’s an ancient desire to produce duplicates. Printmaking was used by herbalists to document plants accurately. In the 1700s, Benjamin Franklin printed a leaf on money to avoid counterfeiting—the veins were too intricate to be hand-drawn. Carbon paper was (and sometimes still is) used by businesses to archive and communicate exact prices for receipts. Immense power lies in the fact that nothing got lost in translation when history was recorded via original newspaper prints and dispersed around towns by the local newscaster. In fact, the children used the same tools used for traditional print media.
Noticing patterns in detail and form is an important part of the human experience. It’s a skill that can encourage making connections across stories and art mediums, recognizing archetypes in everyday life, or relating to others by linking shared experiences. It’s because of this that we’re confident this investigation will continue to thread its way through the rest of our days this year.
Carbon
paper
Sandwiched between two pieces of blank paper, carbon paper was used as a transferring catalyst for the children’s marks to duplicate.
After using both graphite and colored pencils, they flipped their papers to discover their work instantly copied. This element of anticipation and surprise fueled excited conversation and shared wonderment of how duplication can manifest.