Kate Goldsworthy

Loughborough University School of Art and Design
4th November 2009

I presented a paper about recent practice at this one-day symposium.

Organised by Kerry Walton and Janette Matthews in collaboration with the Textile Research Group and the Drawing Research Group the event explored themes in relation to the use of lasers in Art & Design and their contribution to making artefacts.

Laser processing of metals, acrylics, wood, textiles and other materials is a well-known industrial process for cutting and marking. Equipment is becoming more accessible and even commonplace in academic institutions for use by Art & Design and Design Technology departments. As is often the case with emerging technologies, there is a requirement for the potential to be fully understood before the process can be exploited. A number of practitioners, designers and technologists are involved in exciting work that moves the laser process beyond just a cut or a mark in a material. This one-day symposium will explore the laser process in Art & Design and the relationship of practitioners to the technology.

Through a series of illustrated presentations and panel discussions by leading artists, designers, researchers and technologists, it will show how the process is being exploited through innovative practice and demonstrate that laser processing is more than a means of cutting. The relationship between laser technology and its impact on underlying practice will be questioned. Advances and emerging trends in the development of laser technology and the consequent impact on practice will also be explored.

Papers were invited around the following themes:

• Lasers are used for both speed and repetition and as creative tools for experimentation. What methods and approaches enable experimentation and result in innovation?
• Lasers can enable transferability of art work between a variety of materials. How is this best achieved and what are the potential opportunities and limitations of this approach in terms of design quality and practicalities?
• Working with lasers creates a physical distance between the artist/designer and the artwork/design. What affect, if any, does this have on the sensibility of the final piece? How does this compare with other automated devices used in art and design for example other digital technologies such as printing? How is this 'distance' exploited or mitigated in the creative process?
• Does software mediate this distance between the artist/designer and the artwork/design in laser work? How central is the creative use of software to innovate design/art that employs lasers?
• Laser operating procedures are necessarily 'safe', again creating a physical distance from the cutting/marking process. How can happy accidents be encouraged/facilitated in such situations? Or are the safety procedures enabling?
• To what extent does knowledge of materials science and/or the fundamentals behind laser processing inform creative work? If so, is it necessary to learn individually by trial and error? Would a designer friendly 'handbook' be useful? Do different approaches result in different outcomes facilitating creativity?
• What are the advantages of lasers over other cutting and marking technologies? What new opportunities do they afford beyond speed and repetition?
• Relevant to art and design, what other opportunities exist beyond cutting and marking in regard to laser technologies? How do practitioners become aware of these technologies in sufficient detail to exploit them and explore at the boundary edge

http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/ac/mainpages/Symposium-CuttingEdge/symposium_papers.htm