Kalcinat Prints And Relief Sculpture from Flame-Treated Plastic Sheet

Leonardo, Vol. 9, pp. 300-302. Pergamon Press 1976. Printed in Great Britain KALCINAT PRINTS AND RELIEF PLASTIC SH.EET SCULPTURE FROM FLAME-TREATED Paul Franck* 1. I am a graphic artist and painter. In 1961I made a discovery that profoundly influenced my work in the years that followed. I found that when one draws with India ink on paper that has been scorched by heat or partially burned away by flame, the resulting drawing has a greater visual impact on me than it would if it were made on untreated paper. A drawing in India ink on scorched or burned sizedcanvasproduces a similarresult (Fig. 1). Usually, I cemented the scorched paper or canvas drawings on canvas stretched on a frame. In 1963, using a small blowtorch, I scorched and cut someoilpaintings that Ihad made on canvas and on cardboard. These paintings, done in the nuagisfe (cloud-like) style between 1958-1960, display areas of color with scarcely perceptible variations in hue. The paintings were cut to the shapes of torsos and body members and show scorched areas suggesting burns suffered from exposure to lighting or to a destructive explosion. In 1964 I introduced a burning procedure to engraving. I used the blowtorch to cut zinc plates into the shapes of heads, arms and legs, reminiscent of ex-votos in Catholic churches, and on each piece 1 etched letter-like shapes. The prints, made from the cut plates, have a religious character that reminds me of the saying of prayers. 2. After my experience with engraving plates, I decided to try burning plastic sheet. I found the product called Lucoflex, which is polyvinyl chloride (manufactured by Saint-Gobian Industries, Neuilly sur-Seine, France), to be particularly suitable because of its elasticity and toughness. Most important, it is sufficiently rigid to be used for printing graphics in a press. One can cut thick Lucoflex sheets with the flame to desired shapes and also burn forms into the sheet to different depths. While it is heated by flame the plastic swells and appears as though alive, *Artist and teacher living at 3 avenue Roger, 92700 Colombes, France. (Received 3 Jan. 1970). Fig. 1. ‘Combat’,India ink, sized canvas, 50 x 62 cm, 1963. (Municipal Museum, Skopje, Yugoslavia). which I find exciting. The cooled product contains unplanned patterns of star-shaped cracks and parts of the surface look somewhat like the skin of an elephant or the shell of a tortoise. The possibility of using flame-treated Lucoflex for making prints especially interested me because of the quality of line that can be obtained. After drawing on a sheet in the technique of dry point, I brushed certain parts of it with a flame. Prints produced from such sheets are almost identical to those produced by the conventional aquatint process. Furthermore, it is possible to obtain effects that are unattainable with conventional copper plates, for example variations in shade over a wide range and in lines that broaden and branch into many segments. I found that engraved Plexiglas sheet produces lines that are not sharp. However, prints made from the sheet treated by flame show fine lines produced by tiny cracks in the plastic and variations in shade resulting from a surface quality of the sheet that resembles poorly polished glass. Inkings in color on both flame-treated Lucoflex and Plexiglas were done as on a copper plate. One print entitled ‘Totem’, made with a Lucoflex sheet, is shown in Fig. 2. 300 Kalcinat Prints mid Relief Sculpture from Flame-Treated Plastic Sheet 301 3. Next I made prints using soot instead of ink. The soot, depositedfrom a smoky candle flame onto the face of a burned Lucoflex sheet, is actually the pigment called lamp black. The prints were made on strong heavy paper for engravings (Arches, 250 g). After removal from the press, I sprayed fixative (50% colophony, 50% alcohol) on the print to assure good adherence of the soot particles. Prints made by this technique (I call it the Kalcinat technique) are in relief and look like charcoal drawings with a transparent quality. Only two prints can be made from one application of soot. An example of a burned plastic sheet...