changecase

Masking the absence of a basic reality is the third phase of the simulated image. Using the woodblock print as a master, I redrew the letter forms as outlines. In doing so I was producing a piece that could appear as a singular work, independent of its chronology. The woodblock implies both a previous image (the image the block is made to be the reflection of) and a successive image (the image the block is capable of producing). The print presents an alternate representation as the end of a process geared toward its creation (creating a form, carving a block, then printing the block) and thus the true intended reality. Everything prior to it appears incomplete in comparison.

The next phase of the simulated image is masking and perverting the basic reality. By inking the block and creating a print, I was producing a piece that could appear to be the final product in a directed process. It alludes to an initial image from which a printing block was created to produce the print. The print distorts the viewer's perception, whispering that the print is the culmination and thus the true reality.

My decision to treat the statement "Reproduction is diabolical in its very essence’ as reality meant that fundamentally, none of the Art Cards I created would be reality. None would be the starting point. A card could only at best be a reflection of reality.

To help unify the series I would be creating, it would be useful to have something that remains consistent. I wanted to mail the cards naked, meaning the postage would be attached to the art pieces themselves. The art would be changed in ways that I could only minimally plan for. I foresaw that the postage would be stamped with postal marks and would likely suffer dings, scratches, watermarks and other damage as they traveled. Since I knew that the receivers of the cards were suppose to digitize them when the cards reached their destination, I could actually see the changes that they underwent.

First, I had to decide what the basic reality would be. It seemed appropriate to use a quote from Baudrillard that speaks to the disingenuous nature of reproduction. He says…

A half letter sized manilla envelope arrived in the mail containing some paper, the addresses my trading cards would be destined for, and a set of guidelines.

Pretty much, its all a frenzied battle against madness; and we lost long ago. At least, that’s what I think Jean Baudrillard is saying.