Fourteenth International Conference on the Arts in Society

Abstract

Images on vitreous surfaces have a rich history, going back to industrial approaches, first developed in the ceramic industry, in the 18th century. A research project conducted at FBAUP and VICARTE UNL/FCT, is aiming to extending the scope of fine art printing on glass by combining the creative flexibility of the digitally processed image and the autographic image. Working with a multidisciplinary team of artists and chemists, new luminescent materials are being tested and used as ink to print on glass, through direct methods and decals. Luminescent glasses have a very attractive aesthetic effect, because different colours are obtained with irradiation of UV light. This represent a unique opportunity of application in artistic practice. Playing with transparency, translucency and luminescence allows manipulating visual perception, between ways of seeing and hiding, revealing and veiling, altering, controlling or adulterating vision. All this results in a wide range of possibilities in terms of the quality of the printed surface and its physical presence, available to the artist.