"Tentando para saber por dónde se va, cuando no puede utilizarse para ello la vista." (diccionario Maria Moliner) We use this expression in spanish when it's pitch black and you can't see anything and so you extend your hands trying to feel your way around. Tentar is a verb that means both to try and to feel, so 'a tientas' refers to trying to feel. I thought it was a very visual interesting expression because I always picture someone's hands reaching out.
What I really like about serigraphy is it's clean clear result, that it allows you to mix hand-drawing with digital printed material and fonts and best of all, you can print on a wide variety of materials. The material is not only a surface to say something, but itself can be part of the meaning of the piece.
I experimented with canvas, painted wood, different coloured papers, craft paper, braile paper, maps, a photocopy and a vynil record. The painted wood copies came out very nicely, with the braile paper the image didn't come out clear because of the small bumps.
I was really happy with the results on the blue maps. Here the map added another dimension to the design, the hands are located in space, there is a clear reference to place and orientation. A tientas, trying to feel where you are, where you are going... The map created a paradox because it is an illusion, it offers flat visual information that is useless for a blind person. The hands keep trying to feel but cannot read.
The typewriter photocopy was an image I came across, one of many I keep for future use... I thought it could be fun to place the hands there, though they defenetively need more outlining.
The series A Tientas is the result of the same design being printed on different materials and with white or black ink. This is the starting point for a series of unique pieces, each copy will be altered to become a finished work. I plan to use alot of drawing in the process and use the material to give a different evolution to each design: scratching the wood, sowing the canvas... giving the material a relevant treatment. All the copies need better defining of the hands, this will be my starting point.
Gracias a Lucas y a Luis por las clases.
