Creative Artists Can Experiment With Solid Objects Using Photocopiers And Printers

Most usually photocopiers and printers are associated with use in office, educational and commercial situations for reproducing documents, but they can also be useful to creative artists.

These days the quality of photocopiers means it is easy to copy a three-dimensional object laid onto the glass plate and often produces some surprising and unusual image, or highlights features that wouldn't be noticed with the naked eye.

One of the most famous users of photocopiers to create unusual pictures is the biologist Dr Thomas Eisner, Jacob Gould Schurman Professor of Chemical Ecology and Director of the Institute for Research in Chemical Ecology at America's Cornell University. He began to explore the possibilities of the photocopier after developing Parkinson's Disease.

His experiments produced some striking pictures using natural objects, from freeze-dried insects to flowers to shells. He has said that he worked by first imagining how the various parts of a picture might fit together to make a complete image.

He then arranged the images on the plate, with the side to be copied facing downwards because the copier views the image from beneath and covered them with a black cloth to eliminate any light from interfering with the final image.

Among his most famous pictures is a fanciful figure he called "The Naturalist" created from an arrangement of shells.

Eisner's work illustrates how the photocopier can be used as an active ingredient both to teach creative art in schools and colleges and by artists themselves in their work.

Another possibility is to use a basic photocopied image and then enhance it to create unusual effects with the help of paintbrush or pen with ink or paint.

Adding a border to an image before photocopying can create some 3-dimensional effects. Borders are available in desktop publishing software or, borrowing from Dr Eisner, an actual frame could be used in conjunction with the original document. The frame should be laid reverse side upwards onto the glass plate first, followed by the document design (face down)

Photocopierscan also be of help to artists in creating a collage that they then want to use as a single image.

Groups and organisations looking for ways to put out eye-catching publicity can use a combination of clip art, borders and unusual fonts to create an original document on the computer then reproduce it as a poster, flyer or leaflet. It can be more affordable than getting it professionally printed and the quality of reproduction, depending on the printer settings and the weight of paper used can result in a very professional-looking job.

The frame should be first, laid reverse side up onto the glass plate, followed by the document design (face down).

Hand-adding spots of colour to black and white images or playing around with the lighting are just a couple of possibilities.

The possibilities for using photocopiers within the creative arts are limited only by the imagination, inventiveness and creativity of the artist or designer. There is no reason to limit their use to reproducing documents in offices and educational establishments.


Copyright (c) 2011 Alison Withers