Stamp Casting – The Field Practice by He Xiaoyi 铸印——何效义的田野实践

Casting Seal is a field practice project carried out by He Xiaoyi, an artist in seal carving, in his hometown, Maying Town in Gansu Province, since July 2018. This book depicts the whole process of his exploration and practice, which is divided into chapters: onsite diary, creation drafts, stamp casting, discussions, and conversations. He Xiaoyi hopes to deeply explore the relationship between Chinese folk craftsmanship of iron casting and the art of seal carving. The design of this book is based on a narrative approach. It edited the documentary of the whole process of seal-making by the artists frame by frame, and displayed in a chronological order. There are two level of interpretation for readers. When opening the book, readers will first read the narrative field records made by the artist. Then, when readers turn over the folding pages, they will see the 32 works created for this project. The title of the book, “Stamp Casting”, is pressed through the book by a 380° Celsius heated tool, presenting a texture of burned paper. The burned and pressed characters fade away when turning over pages. A rusty paperclip is used to pin a map of the Maying Town, which reminds reader of where the filed practice took place. There are interlocking texts in chapters of “Discussion” and “Conversations”, reflecting the visual sensation of many people are discussing and exchanging views. The book is made of recycled paper, which is both economical and filed-friendly.

铸印是篆刻艺术家何效义的田野实践项目，2018年7月开始，在他的家乡甘肃马营镇开启了近3年的田野实践。该书描写了艺术家探索实践的全过程，内容分为：在地日记、创作草稿、铸印、讨论、对谈等篇章。他希望通过这样的方式去深刻探讨中国民间铸铁手工艺与篆刻艺术的关系。 书籍设计以“叙述事件”的方式展开设计，将艺术家铸印过程所拍摄的纪录片进行逐帧剪辑，并按照时间的顺序编排。当读者在阅读该书的时候，第一层解读是艺术家田野的纪录，极具叙事性。而艺术家为此项目创作的32件作品放在了第二个层次进行表达，需要读者翻开拉页进行解读。 书名“铸印”二字，通过380度高温热烙的方式压制，呈现出纸张被灼烧的质感，翻阅的过程，书名“铸印”二字慢慢淡化。书中用一枚生锈的回形针，别着一张“马营”的区域地图，强调了艺术家创作实践的地点。“讨论”和“对谈”篇章里交错的文字版面，体现出多人交流讨论的视觉感受。全书选用了廉价的再生纸印制，体现田野乡土的气息。