The DAPTTF Glossary Initiative

The Digital Art Practices & Terminology Task Force (DAPTTF) has done something commendable for the digital printmaking community: they have defined their terms. It sounds like a simple, straightforward-enough exercise, but in fact it wasn't so simple. The DAPTTF people, the leading lights of this new worldwide collective which has arisen recently due to the rapid growth of interest in computer-assisted art forms, were faced with the task of achieving consensus among the diverse groups and interests involved in the digital art movement: the fine-art community, including artists, the traditional art media, galleries, museum curators, etc.; photographers, a major component of the movement; art educators; consultants and other members of the fast-growing digital art phenomenon.

The new DAPTTF Glossary can now be accessed at www.dpandi.com/DAPTTF/. Dpandi dot com ('digital printing & imaging') is the website of Harald Johnson, digital artist, author and activist, and founder of the Digital-fineart discussion group, the online forum which exploded onto the scene a few years ago, and became the first truly-public place in which digital printmaking was discussed, and the place where these issues first crystalized. The DAPTTF pages on the site also include a brief discussion of printmaking techniques, a list of the committee members with brief resumés, and a bibliography of references used in the creation of the Glossary.

Origins of the Glossary

"It all started with the development of the digitally-generated graphic as a work of fine art," says John S. Shaw, the former executive director of the now-defunct Digital Printing & Imaging Association, and the other promoter of the initiative. "As might be expected when you have people from different backgrounds talking about the same thing, there were communications problems in the use of many, many words and phrases," adds Shaw. "The first instance was the word 'giclée,' but that was followed by many others, for example, the word 'print.' We discovered that when a photographer uses the term he's referring to one thing, but when a museum curator uses it he's probably talking about something different. Then there's the concept of 'edition,' and all the ways that particular sausage has been sliced!"

"Harald and I sort of danced around the idea of a reference of generally-understood usages for words and phrases found in the world of digital art and specifically digital printmaking. This wasn't to be an iron-clad listing of hard-and-fast definitions, rather a starting point for discussion. We had the art-based digital artists, the photograper/artists, and the fine art people (galleries, museums, the established Art World) all speaking somewhat different languages. What was needed, clearly, was a common language, or at least a guide to what different people meant by a given term - a glossary for the digital printmaking community."

So with that need in mind, they set out to assemble a group of knowledgeable people to create such a glossary, a task which turned out to be a fairly lengthy process in itself as questions arose regarding how big the group should be, what kind of expertise should be represented by the members of the committee, etc. Given the diversity of the digital community they had to determine how many artists, how many photographers, how many gallery/museum people, etc., to say nothing of the discussion of whether to include someone from the manufacturing community.

Who's Who

With the structure and parameters set, the choice of names for the roster proved another job altogether. With a target of fifteen for the task force, they had maybe five or six obvious people, and a group of other possibles, always keeping in mind a set of rough 'quotas' so that one group did not have unwarranted weight at the expense of the others. In the end the committee (or "Task Force") was made up of the 15 expert volunteers from different disciplines. (See list of experts and brief descriptions on the DAPTTF website.)

Just for the Fun of It

Just for the fun of it, let's take a look at a few of the entries in this extensive glossary. It seems that many of them are quite open ended, in accordance with the stated aim of the creators: "a starting point for discussion:"

digital fine art print
A fine art print made by any digital output process conforming to traditional fine art qualifications and requirements.

edition
The aggregate of identical prints produced from a single matrix. (see also "open edition," "limited edition," and "variant edition")

giclée
(1) A print made by a digital process, typically inkjet. (2) A copy (typically identical) of an original work of art (as a painting) that was created separately and then reproduced digitally, specifically by inkjet printing. First used in this context by Jack Duganne in 1991 to describe prints made on an IRIS inkjet printer. Pronounced [ zhee-clay ].

intaglio
Form of printing in which all the elements of the image are below the surface of the plate, having been cut, scratched, engraved, or etched into the metal to form ink-retaining grooves or cups. (see "Printing Technologies" analysis)

IRIS or IRIS print
The branded inkjet printer that produced the early "digital fine art prints" and for which the term "giclée" was first used. Currently no longer being manufactured.

limited edition
A number of multiples or identical artworks that are produced from a single master or matrix, all of which depict the identical image, and which may bear the artist's signature and numbers indicating the unique number of the specific print as well as the stated maximum number of prints in the edition. (see also "edition" and "open edition")

printmaker
A person producing actual prints from the artist's master file, under the artist's supervision.

signed
Carrying an original signature of the artist. In law: 1. Autographed by the artist's own hand, and not by mechanical means of reproductions, and if a multiple, after the multiple was produced, whether or not the master was signed. [IOWA CIVIL CODE] [GEORGIA CODE SIMILAR] 2. The artist signed the print multiple by hand to signify the artist's examination and approval of the print. "Signed" does not mean the act of leaving an impression of the artist's name upon the print by any mechanical process. [HAWAII CIVIL CODE]

Take a Longer Look!

Whether you are a digital or traditional printmaker, a print lover, educator, critic, museum curator, or pertain to any one of the other collectives related to the digital and printmaking worlds, the DAPTTF Glossary merits your attention. And it's just one click away: here.

Note: The DAPTTF people are interested in giving their new glossary the widest possible dissemination; they have very liberal terms for granting rights to reproduce (and they're lightning fast answering e-mails, always a plus!) They have also very thoughtfully provided a PDF version which you can freely download and print up. Questions about DAPTTF should be addressed to Harald Johnson (harald@dpandi.com) and/or John S. Shaw (john@printhead.net).

Illustrations by a selection of
World Printmakers Digital Printmakers

Dimiter Dimitrov

Kilfish

Mamta Herland

Dorothy Simpson Krause

Joan Dubanoski

Ken Kerslake

Mel Strawn

April Vollmer