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| Ephemeral print of fairy harvesting dandelions |
Everything in our human nature fights the idea of loss. We don't like things that fade, that disappear, that are lost to time. And yet, what freedom there is in letting go. There is no better way to practice the embrace of the ephemeral than making anthotype prints. This is a method of image-making that predates photography and is entirely organic, but anthotypes are designed to disappear. Left out in the sun, they will entirely fade away, and I think there is something wonderfully magical about that.
These anthotypes use a formula involving ground turmeric, rubbing alcohol, baking soda, and water.
The Formula
Mix a ratio of one teaspoon ground turmeric in a glass or plastic cup with 4 to 6 teaspoons of rubbing alcohol. Stir thoroughly, then filter out undissolved turmeric grains using coffee filter or cotton cloth into another container.
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| Turmeric-alcohol solution |
Paint this turmeric solution onto a sturdy piece of paper using a brush, covering the entire surface. Note turmeric really stains everything in sight, so put a drop cloth or paper towels under your paper. The result will be bright yellow. Immediately store the paper flat away from sunlight until it is entirely dry.
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| Covering surface with turmeric |
The Collage Method
Collect elements you want to assemble into a print. Here I've collected various weeds and grasses from a walk along Lake Merritt. I have also cut out a couple of vintage images of ladies dancing around that I collected and printed from the internet.
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| Collecting elements for the prints |
Place your dry sheet of turmeric paper on a piece of cardboard. Arrange your objects on top of the turmeric paper, and top with a piece of glass. If you have a bunch of frames not currently being used, the glass and backing from these are ideal. You will want to prep all of this and make everything a lot easier by making sure that your backing, turmeric paper, and glass are all the same size at this point. The final step is to clamp it all firmly together.
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| A clamped anthotype in progress |
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| Another clamped piece |
Place your clamped pieces in direct sunlight and leave in place until all of the visible yellow turmeric turns very, very pale. Hopefully you live in a sunny climate. My first stab at this was in Northern California during a season known as "June Gloom," with fog and dim sun. Your print may be ready in a matter of hours. Mine took about five days to fade sufficiently.
The final stage involves developing the anthotype. Create a mixture with a ratio of four teaspoons of baking soda to a cup of warm water and stir thoroughly. You will want this amount of developing fluid for each print. Disassemble your clamped piece and remove all of the collaged pieces. Holding the print over a sink, douse the entire surface of the print with the baking soda solution. At this point your print will really pop, turning from pale yellow to a brown-amber color. You may rinse the surface of the print briefly with water to remove the baking soda solution. Immediately store flat in a dark closet to dry.
Here are the sample anthotypes from my first pass at this.
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| The dandelion print |
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| Flying among grass seeds |
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| Pagan Revelry |
And yes, these will fade over time when they are exposed to sunlight. I created a series of cards, tucking a print inside each one, and sent them off to artist friends I knew would be intrigued by this technique. I am curious whether the recipients will react by storing them away, out of the sunlight, or if they embrace the fleeting beauty of this art form, prop the print on a shelf, enjoy it while it lasts, and watch it disappear over time.
One aspect that surprised me with this collage method is that the printed figures I used transferred so much detail. I realized that the details in the original printout are captured because the black areas of the print remain opaque while white or light areas let more sunlight through. The third print above was a black silhouette, and created a silhouette figure with no details.
The Transparency Film Method
Out of curiosity I experimented with an alternate method, printing a few photos onto acetate film (available online; I used WeLiu Transparency film for Inket Printers). What you get is a photo image on the transparent sheet. Instead of using paper and plants, I followed the formula outlined above using a sheet of plastic with a photo image.
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| Photo of me taken by a Chinese composer |
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| Craft session with the grandnieces |
The prints were developed using the baking soda method outlined above.
With the film method, I believe the final prints would benefit from a little more photo manipulation before printing the image out onto the transparency paper. Fiddling with contrast, increasing and sharpening both light and dark areas might heighten results. But again, these are designed to be fleeting and fade with time, much like our memories.
Experimentation at this end will continue. You are encouraged to launch into some of your own at your end.
