Open Bite Australia Print Workshop

Open-Access in Western Australia

Open Bite is an open access print workshop run within the printmaking studio in the School of Communication and Contemporary Arts, Edith Cowan University in Perth, WA, Australia. The workshop was established to offer access and instruction at various levels to artists and members of the community wishing to make fine-art prints.

The studio is equipped with excellent facilities and technical resources and is supported by a regular Artist in Residence / Guest Lecture program. Open Bite provides a professional working environment that enables not only the traditional approaches of print production to be investigated but also the opportunity for those artists seeking to work more experimentally, challenging the accepted notions of printmaking through an involvement in large scale, multi media or electronic imaging. The studio’s philosophy contemplates printmaking as a major means of artistic expression without stylistic constraints toward content or medium, and therefore encourages artists to utilise the full potential of printmaking as a creative process.

The studio also operates a professional print publishing program for artists. Open Bite has worked in collaboration with Desert Designs WA and Indiginart to offer access and publishing facilities for the production of limited-edition prints by a number of indigenous arts communities across central and western Australia. This recently published article expands on one of these projects.

The workshop offers access:

• To trained printmakers artists wishing to use the facilities for editioning, production of artwork and publishing.
• To graduates of the School requiring facilities to continue their practice
• To beginners requiring tuition and support through short courses and workshops
• To schools and local community groups seeking professional facilities
• For specific projects in conjunction with Artist in Residence Workshop programs

Facilities

Facilities include well equipped workshops for etching, collagraph and drypoint, as well as relief and mono printing, and screen printing. There are five intaglio presses for printing steel, zinc, copper and plastic plates, ventilated acid room and inking area plus paper and metal guillotines and extracted washroom for solvents

There is also an Albion direct platen press for the printing of lino, wood and plastic plates

Screen Printing: The latest technology in water-based printing on paper is being utilised in a chemical free environment. Accurate editioning can be achieved using direct and indirect stencils produced from hand drawn or photographic artwork on synthetic meshes

Papermaking: Facilities are available for the production of hand made papers for use in the print studio

Terms and Conditions are negotiable with the studio co-ordinator and dependent on the the requirements of the artist/project. It is intended that the workshop run during specific timetabled periods to take advantage of technical support and allow artists access to a range of activities within the school. In this case artists would need to be skilled in printmaking allowing them to work independently within the limitations of the facility.

Fees for artists projects are charged at an hourly rate for basic room access assuming no academic input is needed. Instructional workshops would be held at different dates depending on demand.

Basic materials such as solvents, rags, grounds etc will be supplied at a cost of $60.00 per semester, negotiable depending on the nature of the project and usage. All other materials such as paper, plates, inks and emulsions to be supplied by the artist.

Fees not including materials:

• One 4 hour session / week @ 12 weeks$400.00/semester
• One 8 hour session / week @ 12 weeks $650.00 / semester
• Hourly rate for projects or editioning $18 / hour

Clive Barstow

Program Director, School of Communications and Contemporary Arts

Since completing his Honours Degree in Sculpture in 1978 and MA in Printmaking in 1980, Clive has exhibited extensively in international group and one person exhibitions. In addition, he has taught in thirty two art schools within Europe America and Australia over the past twenty two years at foundation, degree and post graduate level, and is currently Senior Lecturer and co-ordinator of the Print Media program. In addition, Clive is program director for the School of Visual Arts and co-ordinator of the International Student Exchange Program.

His work is held in twenty three international collections including The National Museum of Modern Art Paris (Pompidou Centre), The British Council USA and The Museum of Modern Art Korea. An interest in the area between sculpture and printmaking developed within his professional practice while studying at Chelsea School of Art, London under Eduardo Paolozzi. Since this time Clive has published various articles on interdisciplinary printmaking and in 1997 became an executive member of The Printmakers Council of Australia. An article on Clive’s exhibition at the Perth Institute of Contemporary Art outlines his current practice. More recently Clive has been involved in a number of artist collaborations at Span Galleries Melbourne and as part of the Shanghai International Arts Festival, China.

His teaching experience includes ten years involvement at Middlesex University in London contributing both to the Fine Art and Design disciplines within the Faculty of Art and Design. Since his appointment at ECU, Clive has developed a number of major initiatives within the School in the areas of research and cross-cultural collaboration. In 1997 he established the Open Bite Australia print workshop to encourage the development of Printmaking within a number of local indigenous communities. As a result, the workshop has become one of Australia’s leading producers of indigenous printmaking, through an association with a number of local and national arts agencies. Open Bite publishing is now recognised and archived within the Australian National Gallery.

His ECU University research profile includes nine research and development / teaching and learning awards across a number of technical, creative and pedagogic projects. He has recently completed a technical research project investigating non toxic print processes for West Australian desert applications, in conjunction with the University of Maine USA. Clive was presented with the 2001 Vice Chancellor’s Excellence in Teaching Award for his contribution to the field of Visual Arts, and represented Edith Cowan University at the 2002 Australian Universities Teaching Awards in Canberra.

Contact:

Clive Barstow, Coordinator
Open Bite Australia Print Workshop
c.barstow@ecu.edu.au
Website: http://www.scca.ecu.edu.au/projects/openbite/obabout.html