Draft 1: Changes Through Repetition
I chose Carmela Gross’s Carimbos / Stamps as my model for imitation. She takes stains, graffiti, brushstrokes and lines from other artists’ paintings, turns them into rubber stamps, and repeatedly stamps them onto paper in a systematic way. Through this process, she transforms the sensitive, manual gestures of painting into mechanical and repeatable actions. (Katzenstein and Gross, 2021)
I made my own stamps from clay and pressed them repeatedly onto paper, hoping to produce similar imprints. However, the results were different from what I expected. Because the clay had not fully dried, the stamps gradually changed shape under repeated pressure.
At first, I thought the experiment had failed. However, I noticed that the pressure changed both the prints and the clay stamps. As the stamp became deformed, each new print looked different from the previous one.
This led me to ask: When a form is repeated, what allows it to remain recognisable, and what causes it to change? I want to explore this by comparing the shapes, details and clarity of my prints, and observing how each impression differs from the one before it.
Reference
Katzenstein, I. and Gross, C. (2021) ‘Paradoxical Expression: A Conversation with Carmela Gross’, MoMA Magazine, 10 September. Available at: https://www.moma.org/magazine/articles/620 (Accessed: 28 October 2026).
Draft 2 Repetition, Change, and the Loss of Original Features
When creating clay seals, I referred to Camilla Gross’s work “Seals/Markings”. She transformed various patterns into rubber seals and pressed them repeatedly onto paper in order to create new images. I tried a similar approach, but using clay instead of rubber. At first, I thought that by repeating the same process, similar patterns could be obtained.
However, the results were different from my expectations. The first pattern had clear details, but as I continued the process, the subsequent patterns became blurred. The edges became smoother, and the shapes became larger and more rounded. The once clear details became difficult to distinguish. I also noticed that after repeated pressing, the clay seals themselves changed as well.
At first, I saw this as an unsuccessful attempt to copy Gross’s method because I could not produce the similar prints I had expected. However, when I arranged the prints in the order they were made and created an accordion book, I noticed that the changes happened gradually. The first and second prints looked quite similar, but the difference between the first and last prints was much clearer. This made me realise that small changes could build up through repetition. More importantly, it was not only the prints that changed. The clay stamps also became deformed, meaning that each new print was made using a stamp that had already changed.
This made me reconsider the unexpected results of my experiment. In The Magic is in Handling, Barbara Bolt discusses how new understanding can emerge through working directly with tools and materials (Bolt, 2007). I had not planned for the prints to become blurred or for the stamps to change shape. However, these unexpected changes helped me understand that repeating the same action does not always produce the same result. The process itself can also affect what happens next.
To observe these changes more carefully, I extracted the patterns from the background and created static animations in the original order. Compared to the booklet, the animation allowed me to observe these changes more continuously. I noticed that some lines became thicker, certain details disappeared gradually, while the overall shape remained similar to the first pattern. This made me consider the difference between visual changes and the loss of original features. Although some details disappeared, the overall shape didn’t change completely.
This led me to a question: When does repeated change become a loss of original features?
Reference
Bolt, B. (2007) ‘The magic is in handling’, in Barrett, E. and Bolt, B. (eds.) Practice as research: Approaches to creative arts enquiry. London: I.B. Tauris.
Draft 3
