Course detail
Theoretical foundations of printmaking 1
FaVU-1TZGT1Acad. year: 2024/2025
The course is designed as a fusion of theoretical teaching, practical demonstrations and excursions. The triadic model of education emphasizes contextualization, history and technology of relief printing and intaglio. Specific printmaking techniques will be placed both in historical context and in the current context of contemporary art and its reflection, and then demonstrated on a practical level. The main aim of the course is not to whip to perfection skills in printmaking techniques, but to gain an overview and the ability to justify the importance of traditional media in the digital age. The course functions as a stand-alone theoretical introduction to the field, but also as a prolegomena to actual graphic practice.
Language of instruction
Number of ECTS credits
Mode of study
Guarantor
Entry knowledge
Rules for evaluation and completion of the course
The following conditions are set for the award of the examination:
- active participation in class (2 permitted unexcused absences) or submission of an assignment based on an alternative assignment in agreement with the lecturers
- submission, presentation of the prepared presentation and active participation in the subsequent discussion
- the level of the presentation is assessed in relation to the fulfilment of the course objectives.
Teaching takes place in the classrooms of the FFA BUT in the hours determined by the schedule. Attendance is compulsory (2 unexcused absences allowed). Higher number of absences can be compensated by submitting an alternative assignment after agreement with the teachers.
Aims
The aim of this course is to present the theoretical and historical background of traditional graphic techniques and to put them within contemporary context. Students will also learn familiarize themselves with the principles of the turn to materiality in contemporary art. A crucial aspect is the awareness that this essentially conceptual return requires – historically – a bravura mastery of proven handicraft techniques. Another aim of the course is, of course, to lighten the postulated rigidity, since the mere knowledge of the "topography of the field" or the violation of its rules can constitute a creative impulse. The turn to materiality can of course be understood very broadly, but in the case of classical printmaking it is mainly a continuation of the possibilities of printing technologies spread out in time, such as relief printing and intaglio. By introducing practical processes in a historical and theoretical context, students will become aware of the possibilities of the classical medium not only as a historical relic, but especially as a functional means for their own creation and interpretation of contemporary art.
By completing the course, students will be familiar with the basics of graphic techniques theoretically and historically, as well as their media overlaps and potential for their own work.
Study aids
Prerequisites and corequisites
Basic literature
JUNA, Zdeněk. Lept a příbuzné techniky. Praha: Státní nakladatelství krásné literatury, hudby a umění, 1954.
KREJČA, Aleš. Grafické techniky. Vyd. 2. V Praze: Aventinum, 1994. 206 s. ISBN 8071516388.
MARCO, Jindřich. O grafice : kniha pro sběratele a milovníky umění. Praha: Mladá fronta, 1981. Česká grafika 20. století : [ve Sdružení českých umělců grafiků Hollar]. Edited by Jiří Bouda - Jaroslav Kaiser - Miroslav Kudrna. Praha: Sdružení českých umělců grafiků Hollar, 1997. 325 s. ISBN 80-902405-0-X.
ODEHNAL, Antonín. Grafické techniky. Vyd. 1. V Brně: Střední škola uměleckých řemesel v Brně, 1996. 90 s. ISBN 80-902275-0-3.
RAMBOUSEK, Jan. Dřevořez, dřevoryt a příbuzné techniky. Vyd. 1. Praha: Nakladatelství československých výtvarných umělců, 1957. 206 s. ISBN: sine.
ROMANO, Clare – ROSS, John – ROSS, Tim. The Complete Printmaker: Techniques, Traditions, Innovation. Revised and expanded ed. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2008. 352 s. ISBN: 978-0029273722. (EN)
Recommended reading
BENJAMIN, Walter. The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. 1st ed. London: Penguin Books, 2008. 128 s. ISBN: 978-0141036199. (EN)
KOVARIK, Bill. Revolutions in Communication. Media History from Gutenberg to the Digital Age. 1st ed. New York: Continuum Publishing Corporation. 356 s. ISBN: 978-1441114600. (EN)
MITCHELL, Willia John Thomas. Picture Theory. Essays on Verbal and Visual Representation. 1st ed. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1994. 462 s. ISBN: 978-0226532325. (EN)
PUCHNER, Martin. The Written World. The Power of Stories to Shape People, History, and Civilization. 1st ed. New York: Random House Trade. 464 s. ISBN: 978-0812988277. (EN)
RAMBOUSEK, Jan. Slovník a receptář malíře-grafika. Praha: Státní nakladatelství krásné literatury, hudby a umění, 1954. nepag., ISBN: sine.
Classification of course in study plans
- Programme VUM_B Bachelor's 2 year of study, winter semester, compulsory-optional
- Programme DES_B Bachelor's 2 year of study, winter semester, elective
2 year of study, winter semester, elective
2 year of study, winter semester, elective
2 year of study, winter semester, elective - Programme VUM_B Bachelor's 2 year of study, winter semester, compulsory-optional
2 year of study, winter semester, compulsory-optional
2 year of study, winter semester, compulsory-optional
2 year of study, winter semester, compulsory-optional
2 year of study, winter semester, compulsory-optional
2 year of study, winter semester, compulsory-optional
2 year of study, winter semester, compulsory-optional
2 year of study, winter semester, compulsory-optional
2 year of study, winter semester, compulsory-optional
2 year of study, winter semester, compulsory-optional
2 year of study, winter semester, compulsory-optional
2 year of study, winter semester, compulsory-optional
Type of course unit
Lecture
Teacher / Lecturer
Syllabus
1. Introduction
2. Intaglio – history
3. Intaglio – history
4. Intaglio – technology
5. Intaglio – technology
6. Excursion in the Collection of old prints in the MZK
7. Relief printing – history
8. Relief printing – history
9. Relief printing – technology
10. Relief printing – technology
11. Final presentations with discussion
12. Final presentations with discussion
13. Evaluation