Extractive Logics (leaves) by Daniel Evans

Extractive Logics (leaves) by Daniel Evans, 2020, Rives BFK (Grey) with compressed charcoal rubbed into it. Series of photographs laser-engraved into charcoal saturated paper, with leaf surface texture subsequently engraved over top

CUT/ENGRAVED: Engraved.

CUTTING/ENGRAVING TIME: Approximately 40 minutes per image (for both passes)

FILE PREPARATION: Two files were prepared: one with text and image masked to fit within the silhouette of the leaf shape, the other with the leaf texture in the exact same position.

Photographic images were resized and resampled in photoshop. The leaf texture was converted to black and white with the Stamp filter. All images were 600 DPI, and colour images were first desaturated and converted to greyscale. Images were not inverted before printing

SETTINGS USED:  All images use the Stucki halftone setting, 600 DPI, inversion, and photo-optimized mode.

Photographic images were engraved at Power 47.81, Velocity 80. Leaf images were engraved at Power 30, Velocity 80. 

NOTES: All jobs were positioned using the laser positioning settings in Job Control to ensure pixel perfect registration.

CONCEPTUAL REASONING FOR USING THE LASER CUTTER FOR YOUR PROJECT: A crux of my MFA research is the intimately interconnected relationship between physical and virtual experiences in contemporary life. Tangent to this is an investigation of human/AI relationships and interactions, and entangled human/machine agencies more generally. I was interested in working with the engraver as a drawing tool, and incorporating its affordances in mark-making alongside my own.