Images and Ideas:
In Greek the word for poetry, poisis, derives from the verb "to do" i.e. to make or create. For me Poetry is the main artistic procedure of the perception and transformation of natural world into a more sophisticated level. Words express ideas and poetry through language and words can create images. Words also can express feelings, so the verbal images of poetry can meet arts as the starting point of creation.
The main difference between poetry and other arts, namely painting, sculpture and visual arts generally, is that poetry uses language as a medium. However, language sets limits because it submits, to some extent, to the syntax which is predominantly a technical characteristic. Other arts do not "suffer" from this limitation and produce works which are more "free" in terms of their structure and which do not usually obey specific rules. They are just images of our contemporary world. Thus, while an image or painting is a perceptual entity which is perfectly understandable in the artistic activity, an idea is a conceptual entity which is most clearly to be understood in analytical thinking (logic).
Even though we live in the era of digital technology, the transformation of reality to poetic forms of art seems to be a necessity for me. Commodities and services which are based on strict rationalism are very useful for our material world but they are unconvincing. We are used to thinking of the reason and the result of our actions and thoughts but there is also the emotional factor which is always present and makes people's lives unpredictable and interesting. The whole procedure is not linear and for me, the digital era not only offers a new platform of technical innovation but also offers new abilities for exploring and understanding the infinite world of contemporary images.
As a visual artist who has been involved with technology, I have, for a long time, been thinking about how Photoshop encourages a different way of thinking and acting (e.g. a "flow-chart" way of thinking). My work is based on this diagrammatic kind of thought and it is not dependant on uncertain environmental factors of chance. I feel it necessary to control every detail of my final picture and it is very easy to do this by using a computer programme. This meticulous approach does not need real physical effort since one has followed the right "windowsXP" steps and then.."click". Chance factors, which once used to be significant because an artist might rediscover his artistic world, are now less important provided that digital technology is absolutely controlled by human intelligence and practice.
Although, traditional printmaking is exactly the technique which exploits chances and possibilities to create a unique artefact, wooden or copper, he is then able to reproduce his work anytime. To be precise, I would say that traditional printmaking has set a timetable for chance. The printmaker does not know exactly what will happens during engraving or eroding in acids but once the matrix is produced, reproduction is possible. For me, as a digital print-maker, I produce dense files with specific resolution and pixels dimensions. I print the result of my work with inkjet printers. I can use various materials such as paper, plexiglass or canvas. I can also reprint my work and I enjoy the possibility of "mass production" in art! I like thinking that owing to inkjet printers I can have my work printed without using so much physical effort.
However, behind all these procedures, there is creativity. Photoshop tools are based on photography and painting practice. The point is to create a new kind of experience based on the procedure and not on the tools themselves. In this way. artistic work can be radical and unconventional. The artist can exhibit the procedure that is followed each time and focus mainly on the procedure of the artistic thought. The most interesting point is hidden in the intentions which an artist has and into what he wants to say to himself and to his viewers. Cutting-edge art - if there is such a thing - is made by cutting-edge thought and not only by using tools.
