Andreas Schönfeldt
Tshwane University of Technology
Private Bag X680
Pretoria, 0001
Republic of South Africa.
Email: and.schon@absamail.co.za
Paper: “Printmaking as Medium for Contact”
In the book of Donald Saff and Deli Sacilatto they say the following on page seven “Few inventions in the history of civilization have played such a role in the evolution of thought as the development of printed images. The cultural impact of printing was without parallel until our own age of computers, photography and mass communications.”
Today we find our self in an era in which the idea of KONTAKT-collaboration-outreach and development has attracted attention globally. The impact of printmaking on these are already meaningful and should be further promoted. Printmaking is “the spirit of the time” or the “Zeitgeist” with the right characteristics of our era to fulfill all the above. In this paper I will ask what makes printmaking capable of opening a new world for us? Is it the technological process of printmaking that opens interconnection between different groups?
Ken Tyler, interviewed by Stephen Inggs in 1989 said “There’s a language out there that would suffer greatly in the art world if you took away all graphic expression” Likewise, without the graphic arts a contact that would be lost between artists from different cultures.
We can raise more questions and find more answers but can we, as Dylan Thomas wrote “rage against the dying of the light.” Following these thoughts, I would like to present a video of an active work session to prove the suitability of printmaking for collaboration, outreach and development projects.
ANDREAS SCHöNFELDT was born in 1950 in Cape Town, South Africa. He is currently lecturing at the Printed Image Studio of Tshwane University of Technology. He has been associated with Tshwane University since 1979, first as a student and from 1981 as lecturer. Before he studied Fine Art (graphic art) he was involved in cinematography and photography. Schönfeldt does not specialize in any particular medium but uses any materials and process that necessitate the completion of the art piece. In the field of printmaking, he works from the traditional to digital works. His sculpture and video works take the form of installations. Works by Schönfeldt have been selected for the “Pretoria Biennale,” “11 Capital Art Landscape” and “Abstraction from the Greater Pretoria Region.” He wrote an article, “Printmaking: Status and Accessibility”, investigating the possibilities of introducing printmaking to a wider audience of printmakers through the innovative manipulation of accessible equipment and effective manufacturing of screen print tables. He made an installation titled ‘Beating about the Bush’ just before the American invasion in Iraq. The video for that project was later presented in Chicago, USA, as part of the “Art at War-The Artist’s Voice 2004.” Schönfeldt has also produced numerous video documentations some on artist and others of art projects and fashion shows. At the New Ground Common Ground print conference held at Rhodes University, South Africa Schönfeldt made the case for more accessible printmaking equipment. This led to an outreach project where he built a press for Mr. J. Nhlanhla. While presenting this project at the the first IMPACT conference at the University of West England, Schönfeldt made contacts with printmakers for Belfast, Ireland. He visited Northern Ireland in April-May of 2005 for a collaborative project between the two countries. Working with Eddie Rafferty, a printmaker from Belfast, they are creating a "Peace Wall" in the Shankill, and Fallsroad area.