This is the zinc etching plate, from which Hockney had printed Jungle Boy (1964).

This plate is presented not as an artwork itself, but as a "transitional" stage or an instrument which helped to create Hockney's prints. It relates to Rachel Whiteread's projects, because she creates "inverted" molds of objects/spaces, but not their casts. Why does such "transitional" stage object as this zinc plate weighted as a historical trace/evidence, but not an artwork itself? Why does metal engraving carry the other conceptual and historical meanings? How this half-seen aesthetics of a metal plate could affect the meaning of the depicted, hide it? Is this plate an "original" artwork in contrast with the prints, made from it?

This plate reflects questions of originals, copies and editions of the art(works); division on the artworks and materials/instruments/sketches; why, if the cost of this plate would probably be higher than the cost of the prints made from it, it wouldn't be considered an artwork?

#printmaking #metal #reflections #ghosts #originality