Cardboard flatpacks will be custom made, and available in the popular sizes of 1000mm x 760mm, 1200mm x 1200mm and 1200mm x 1600mm.

Artworks produced by the Colour Factory can be packed into these boxes, interleaved with Mylar or archival tissue ready for long term storage or for transportation. They will be available at very reasonable prices soon!

If you missed the exhibition at Georges on Collins, we would highly recommend you catch it now at Melbourne Central, Level 1 Link Bridge, until after Easter.

Here are some images from the opening night by Kit Haselden.

The Colour Factory is a proud printing partner of this event.

For more information, check out the website or follow The Spirit of the Black Dress on Facebook.

Image: Natasha Frisch It’s ... nothing really (2006). Single channel video.

The High Life is a series of rooftop art projects curated by West Space that will be a feature of this year’s Melbourne Food + Wine Festival. The Festival invited West Space to work with contemporary artists to present artworks that reflect upon themes initiated in this year’s festival keynote project ‘The Metlink Edible Garden’. West Space has commissioned eight artists to make new work that responds to ideas around plants and gardens, food sustainability, urban landscapes and environmental concerns more broadly.

Working across some of Melbourne’s best-loved rooftops for the duration of the festival, the artists have also responded to the unique flavour of each establishment. How will artists interpret the hunter/gatherer ethos at Sarti Bar and Restaurant, or the flamboyant cheekiness of Madam Brussels? How will they respond to the understated but oh-so-Melbourne elegance of the Order of Melbourne, or the cool as a cucumber and high as a kite atmosphere of Rooftop Bar?

Artists:
Sarti Restaurant & Bar: Hotham Street Ladies + Natasha Frisch
Rooftop Bar and Cinema: Dell Stewart + Adam Cruickshank
The Order of Melbourne: Andy Hutson + Kirsten Bradley
Madame Brussels: Tai Snaith + Carl Scrase

Closing Night Event: Tuesday 23rd March

The Melbourne Queer Film Festival

12 – 28^th March 2010

Opening night Wednesday 17 March at the Astor Theatre

MQFF is the biggest and oldest queer film festival in Australia, and screens the best in queer film from Australia and around the world.

Centre for Contemporary Photography

Gallery Two

David Van Royen

Not Moving

19 March – 16 May 2010

Opening night Thursday March 18, 6-8pm

Not Moving is an exploration of self-portraiture within photography to display no movement and to create a still frame. This photographic series examines the process of becoming older by exploring that one’s ‘persona’ or ‘inner picture’ somehow remains the same within one’s mind throughout the course of one’s life.

We have a specific self-portrait inside our minds that does not shift like a photograph. It is this image that we attempt to maintain in spite of its possible discordance with the reality of our physical appearance. Like many artist self-portraits that examine mortality, this series concentrates on the environment around the subject, as well as my own state within the particular place displayed.

These photographic images display ideas that permeate my life without relying on the traditional ‘returned stare’ that dominates the genre of self-portraiture. Through this the window to my soul/persona becomes the photographic frame rather than my eyes. Within these images the release cable from the camera represents the physical action of taking the photograph, symbolising my attempt to ‘refresh’ the internal photograph of myself.

Artists: William Breen, Marika Borlase, Lilly Chorny, Lizzie Buckmaster Dove, Ian Greig, Juli Haas, Greer Honeywill, Jean Lyons, Marise Maas, Mark Ogge, Garry Pumfrey, Christophe Stibio, Ken Smith, Christine Willcocks, Simeon Walker, Mami Yamanaka

Exquisite Enticement #3 by Greer Honeywill

This Melbourne art exhibition runs from February 23 – March 13, 2010

“This popular annual exhibition features new landscapes by gallery artists”.

Connor O’Brien book launch
The Thousands Shop
Saturday February 27, 6-8pm

The Thousands Shop and Serps Press invite you to the launch of the Conor O’Brien Box Set and a showing of photographs borrowed from private collections in Melbourne.

The Conor O’Brien Box Set “includes publications There Stands The Glass (2006/07), Hold On To Each Other (2005/06), Westside (2004) and Oh No, I Think I’m Falling (2003). It also includes a B&W zine including photos from exhibitions at Utopian Slumps, Black & Blue, CCP and ACP accompanied by an essay by Robert Cook entitled ’ Up Trees and Not Up Trees’.”

Secondly, a commercial environmentally friendly printer.

At the Colour Factory we embrace and implement environmentally friendly technology. A detailed review will be available in the next month’s eNewsletter.

‘Sustainable Fusion Reactions’ is a very exciting exhibition for the Colour Factory as it pushes the boundaries of what photographic art is. All three artists use photography to communicate their vision even though they may not consider themselves solely as photographers. This differs from the current exhibition, where the artists are well known photographers in the commercial world of fashion and advertising. Marc and Gerard have taken a ‘traditional’ approach in the installation of their work – mural photographs, mounted to Aluminum Composite Board and hung formally in the gallery. The Colour Factory stands by this photographic tradition of the image telling all, presented as a high quality print on the white walls of the gallery.

Just as valid and interesting is the way artists’ who use photography think outside the square and use the installation process as a way of communicating their ideas by transforming a space. The artists in ‘Sustainable Fusion Reactions’ will manipulate the gallery space in a completely different manner involving projections, photo based sculpture, books and photographs, using not only the wall space but the floor as well.

A benefit of exhibiting a variety of ways in which artists use photography is to educate and inspire, showing the diverse and creative methods being used by contemporary artists. Having the Colour Factory business attached to the gallery is advantageous for the public, in particular students, who are interested in the technical possibilities of the medium and challenges faced by artists and technicians alike in bringing an idea to fruition. The experienced Colour Factory staff are available to assist and provide information on how the artwork was produced, the technical requirements, the archival quality of the material and much more.  Just ask us!

Some technical details: photo techniques, printing devices

Gerard and Marc have printed their images as Lightjet photographs on Flex paper then mounted to 2mm Aluminum Composite Board, which floats off the wall. The Flex paper is high gloss and has incredible depth, fooling many to believe that the prints are face mounted to acrylic. This option, although aesthetically similar is more cost effective and light weight.  This process produces a collectable museum quality archival artwork.

In the next exhibition Utako Shindo will create a sculptural floor piece that has images printed onto clear vinyl and adhered to squares of mirror. This process is usually for commercial applications, printed on the large format OCE CS7070 with UV ink. This means the work is not museum quality archival however, it affectively achieves Utako’s creative vision and aesthetic purpose.

We invite you to come along to the grand opening of the Colour Factory Gallery from 6 -8pm. Enjoy some complimentary wine and check out the space whilst enjoying the incredible, elaborate and entertaining work of Gerard O’Connor and Mark Wasiak.

Gallery opening hours are Monday – Friday, 8.30am – 5.30pm. Other times can be arranged by appointment.

We are currently accepting proposals for the period November 2009 – June 2010. We welcome solo, group and curated exhibition proposals from emerging and established practitioners.  If you are interested, please download an application form here.

* Exhibition duration is one month, including installation and de-installation.
* Openings will take place on the first Thursday from 6 – 8pm.
* Rental on the space is $500.00 per month and there is no commission on the sale of artworks.
* Artists who wish to print their work for the exhibition at the Colour Factory will get a 20% discount off rent.
* We welcome solo, group and curated exhibition proposals from emerging and established practitioners.
* We accept proposals for exhibitions of a variety of mediums. However, we may place preference on photographic exhibitions.

At Colour Factory we have a range of industry professionals, gallery curators, fine artists, students, art writers and collectors coming through the door on a regular basis. Thus, the opportunity for exposure is great.

The exhibition committee will consist of three members of the Colour Factory team; director Phill Virgo, production manger Shane Waghorne, and artist and academic Linsey Gosper. A guest collector and an established practicing artist will also be part of the panel.

For further information call us on +61 (03) 9419 8756 or email us at mail@colourfactory.com.au.

Currently there are many printing alternatives and an abundance of print media, often with a variation of names. It is no wonder the artists may be unsure how to correctly request a specific process or what to call their medium of choice when it comes to cataloging or exhibiting.

The Colour Factory has put together a glossary of terms associated with these types of printing to provide some clarity amongst the confusion.

Projection printing (Analogue) - a method of exposing photographic paper by means of an enlarger. “Projecting the image” onto photographic paper.

Emulsion - light sensitive material which consists of a suspension of silver halides in gelatin.

Chromogenic - film or paper contains one, or in the case of colour, three layers of silver halide emulsion. Exposing this light sensitive emulsion coated paper or film generates a latent image. The image is then created via a chemical reaction when liquid chemical is introduced to the light affected silver bearing emulsion. Often referred to as a C Type print or Silver Gelatin, the chromogenic print is unique, created specifically by the photographic process, hence it cannot be used to describe ink jet.

Continuous tone - term applied to the photographic process.

Digital capture - the use of a digital camera to replace film (Be careful of your megapixel size to ensure you capture enough information to achieve your final print size).

Digital laser exposing enlarger – a means of exposing photographic material to create a chromogenic print. Often referred to as a “Light Jet” or “Lambda”. NB these are brand names and when requesting quality digital photographic prints the light source (”Light Laser”) is what you need to be aware of.

As opposed to…

Digital LED exposing enlarger - a means of exposing photographic material to create a chromogenic print. Brands such as Pegasus and Chromira use these light sources.

Light jet - is a brand name for a digital light laser photographic enlarger

Lambda - is a brand name for a digital light laser photographic enlarger

Pegasus - is a brand name for a digital LED photographic enlarger

Chromira - is a brand name for a digital LED photographic enlarger

Ink jet - is a printing process that uses liquid inks sprayed onto paper to create images. Sometimes referred to as Giclee

Giclee - (pronounced ‘zhee-clay’) is French for ‘to spray’ and is a registered trademark. Giclee prints are produced by ink jet printers. The term, however, offers no standard for quality or print longevity.

Pigment Ink - is used in combination with ink jet printers. The newest archival ink is made from 100% pigment, and offers the best combined longevity and color gamut. Pigment inks are not affected by color enhancement papers in the way that dye inks are. However, they are not very compatible with gloss.

Dye Ink – was first used in ink jet printing. They have a good range and accuracy of colour, however are less fade resistant than pigment ink.

RGB – The way that the colours are recorded in Digital imaging. A large percentage of the visible spectrum can be represented by mixing Red, Green and Blue coloured light in various proportions and intensities. All Digital cameras & scanners are RGB devices.

CMYK - A colour system based on the four colours used in printing: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and BlacK. CMYK is primarily used when preparing digital images that will be printed using the process colours by a printer or publisher on a four colour printing press.

Profiles - A mathematical formula made by taking readings of up to a thousand colour swatches generated by a computer. Readings of all squares are measured by means of a spectrophotometer and are returned to the computer which then compares the information. A mathematical correction formula is made and applied to print files to ensure a more correct result is achieved

Colour Space – A colour space is a means of uniquely specifying a colour. There are a number of colour spaces in common usage depending on the particular industry and/or application involved. Computers use RGB, the printing industry may use CMYK. Color spaces, along with device profiling, allow reproducible representations of color, in both analogue and digital representations

As an artist, implementing archival practice not only protects your work and looks great, but also provides a guarantee for collectors. For collectors, we highly recommended you frame your print as soon as possible after purchase to prevent damage from occurring, ensuring it retains and increases in value.

Museum Level Framing is not confined to museums. Artworks that are to be preserved for future generations should be framed to Museum Level, where possible. Processes are intended to be fully reversible up to 35 years, which means that the framed work can be returned to its former state (i.e. prior to framing) at any time, assuming that the artwork is not inherently unstable.

Conservation Level framing gives a high level of protection for your artwork whilst looking good and enabling you to view your framed work to best effect. It should give virtually as high a level of protection as Museum framing. By using conservation quality materials and the best techniques, the framer can give your work protection from physical and mechanical damage, airborne pollution and acids generated by many framing materials. Conservation framing should be good for 20 years in normal conditions. It is recommended that processes should be reversible whenever possible, as the future value of works cannot always be foreseen and work ‘in mint condition’ commands the best secondary market value.

Frame:
* The rebate should be deep enough to hold the glass, thick window mount or fillets, object, thick under mount and back board.

* The molding must be both strong enough and deep enough to support the whole package. An old frame will sometimes need to be modified to meet these criteria.

The Conservation Mount
The conservation mount comprises of a window mount and under mount (sometimes also referred to as a back mount). To provide adequate physical and environmental protection, both boards should be at least 1.3 mm thick. The boards should be hinged along one edge using either a conservation gummed white paper tape or linen tape, (never pressure sensitive tapes).

Illustration 1. Mount Package

Illustration 2. Pendant Hinge ('T-bar')

The Mount

As the picture is in direct contact with the mount, the choice of mount board is crucial to protecting framed works of art on paper.

Museum level
For framing valued original works on paper.

* Cotton museum mount board

This is usually solid core, made from 100% cotton fibre – a traditional paper making material, proven stable over hundreds of years. It can be un-buffered (neutral pH) or buffered with an alkali deposit. One source says Mounting photographs are a special case because some types may be affected by alkalinity: they should not therefore come into contact with an alkaline buffered board.

Conservation Level

For framing original works on paper.

* Conservation mount board such as Rising Museum Mounting Board

This refers to board made from chemically purified wood pulp and then alkaline buffered. Like Cotton Museum board, the core and facings must meet certain criteria such as light fastness, pH ranges and quality of lamination adhesives. A buffer is recommended with an alkali deposit (minimum 3% Calcium Carbonate) which prolongs the stability of the board and provides some extra protection in hostile environments.

The Hinges

* The picture should never be stuck down to a backing card. Restriction of movement can be detrimental. Hinges should allow the picture to hang safely; they should be applied to the top edge and adhered to the under mount.

* Adhesives used must be easy to remove at a future date, and must neither stain nor darken with age. The ideal adhesive is freshly made wheat or rice starch paste. Conservators like to use Japanese paper hinges as they are thin pliable and strong.

* Water-soluble conservation gummed white paper mounting tape is acceptable but pressure sensitive archival conservation tapes are not recommended for use directly on the picture.

Glazing

Works on paper need to be mounted clearly away from the glass to allow for air circulation and movement. If the picture is to be ‘close framed’ (without a window mount) it should be held away from the glass. There is a range of glazing materials with different optical properties.

Reducing Light Exposure

* Museum level framing must use UV filtering glass and it should be strongly considered for conservation level. Light exposure has a pronounced effect on paper condition and pigments.

* The harmful effects of light can be reduced by using ultra violet filtering glass or UVA Acrylics. Ideally the glass should have the least amount of radiation below 400nm (invisible UV radiation) and the maximum amount of visible light transmission.

* Perspex™ and Plexiglass™ can be useful because they are lighter and unlikely to break on impact. However, these materials do scratch more easily.

* The mounted picture/glass sandwich can be sealed around the edges with gummed paper to prevent thunder flies or pollution from penetrating the frame.

The Back Board and Final Assembly

Here is the major difference between Museum and Conservation framing. In Museum framing the print must not be attached to the backing board, and will ‘hinged’ in the frame. In Conservation framing the print may be attached to an archival board using an inert adhesive.

For Museum Level framing:
* The back board should be made of a stable, rigid material, such as pH neutral conservation backing board.

* Further protection from migrating acidity can be provided by the insertion of a sheet of Melinex™ (polyester film) or cooking foil between the back mount and back board.

* The air gap should be sealed with a good quality gummed paper tape only. Pressure sensitive tapes fail and leave a sticky residue.
In some cases of Conservation framing, the image is attached so it sits flatly on the backing board. There are a variety of archival materials that can be used including those used in Museum framing.

* Dibond – is a rigid, durable aluminum composite material consisting of two pre-painted sheets of .012-inch aluminum bonded to a solid polyethylene core – a unique composition that makes it approximately one-half the weight of aluminum. This is recommended for mounting large scale prints for its rigidity.

* Kapamount – is a lightweight product made from foam core coated by a thin layer of aluminum, covered by ph neutral mount board.
* An inert polyester adhesive is used to adhere the print to the backing board.

At the Colour Factory we are investigating and implementing these methods and will shortly have a Museum level framed artwork in our foyer for viewing.

Let’s talk about Kelvin…
Degrees Kelvin (K) is a value for expressing the colour of light. The relationship of colour temperature to colour perception is not obvious due to the remarkable ability of human vision to compensate for wide variations in the spectral distribution of light sources. Tungsten (or incandescent) light gives off a warm, yellow-orange hue (2700K-3300K). Fluorescent cool white light gives off a cyan-green hue (3500K-4000K), daylight fluorescent is the closest to ‘white’ daylight (5000K) with a blue hue and warm white fluorescent has a magenta-orange hue (2700K-3000K). Depending on the time of day, daylight may appear to be different colours. Daylight is 5500K-6500K. Since ‘white’ light covers a broad range of color temperatures, how is our perception of a work of art affected by the choice of illumination? Is there an ideal white light, i.e. is there a preferred colour temperature for viewing works of art and should the artist take this into consideration when printing?

Considering you do not always have control over the type of lighting your photographs will be viewed in, it is difficult to know what colour temperature to print to. A gallery may have tungsten, fluorescent, or a mixture with daylight. You may also want to exhibit the work more than once under different lighting conditions. The general trend in the past has been to print your work to daylight (5000K) as it is ideal in terms of excellent colour rendering. However, museums and collectors will generally exhibit work under tungsten as it is the least damaging to photographs whilst rendering accurate colour, and it is more commonly found in the home.

The ability of light sources to render colour accurately is crucial in museums. The standard measure for this is the colour-rendering index (CRI). Conventionally a CRI of 100 represents daylight. The best source of light in this respect is Tungsten Halogen with a CRI of 99. We are already aware that tungsten halogen is quite different than daylight, so far as it is much stronger in the red-yellow end of the spectrum. However, it does share with daylight a continuous spectrum, which is a key factor in human response to light. The only other light sources in the range of CRI 90-100 are some fluorescent lamps. These do not have continuous spectra (Lux and Kelvin are not continuous). However, they do get reasonably close to the response of the eye. At present Tungsten Halogen is the first choice for lighting museums, with high colour rendering fluorescent second.

Let’s talk about Lux…
Lux is a measurement of the light intensity falling on a surface. A problem with natural light is that all visible light is not equal. The amount of fading of an artwork caused by a 50 lux of UV filtered daylight is not equal to the amount of damage cause by a 50 lux of filtered UV fluorescent light, and neither is equal to damage caused by 50 lux of UV filtered incandescent light. The more violet and blue the source contains the more damage occurs, since these are the highest energy visible light wavelengths. The higher the colour temperature, the more violet and blue is present. Incandescent has the least. Fluorescent has more then incandescent, but it depends on the colour temperature of the lamp. Daylight has the most, and will cause the most damage even if lux levels are equal.

It is interesting to also note that due to the interaction of the rods and cones in the human eye, the colour of different light temperatures will appear different depending on their intensity. Basically the higher the Kelvin value, the higher the lux needs to be, to appear white to the human eye. It is the amount of light which triggers a larger visual influence of the cones for higher illumination and rods (blue sensitivity) for lower illumination. ie. Daylight and fluorescent needs to have a greater lux then tungsten to appear white.

This reinforces that tungsten is the best choice of light to exhibit and view work under as it has accurate colour rendition, consistent output and the lowest amount of damaging UV rays in the lowest output.

GALLERY LIGHTING:

* 150 lux (or less) is considered o be appropriate for viewing (exhibiting) photographs
* Incandescent (tungsten) is the most archival lighting to view artwork.

The Colour Factory has checked the colour temperature and lux of its lighting, and have the option for you to view your tests and prints under (UV filtered) white daylight fluorescent 5000K, 220 lux and will shortly be offering museum standard tungsten halogen at 2700K, 150 lux.