Clustering Illusion

Before Clustering Illusion, we sure didn't consider a dot-matrix printer a standard printmaking tool. Louis Wuttke, however, doesn't just make compelling use of unorthodox material once again, but also proves how necessary the medium of an artist book is for certain concepts.

The drawings reproduced herein were originally made with fineliner on carbon paper. Each image in the sequence produced a ghost-like imprint, which would then serve as a base for the next drawing. Number zero was a randomly generated cloud of dots, and each successive intervention lead to more solid shapes, before dissolving them into negative space.

This process is reflected in the book's material. The dot-matrix printer, too, uses carbon paper and always delivers two books in one go. All odd-numbered specimens were printed directly, while the carbon copies are even-numbered: the former hard and graphic, the latter as if viewed through a soft focus, more painting-like.