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Acest insert pentru revista IDEA artæ + societate vizeazæ un moment cînd, în secolul al nouæsprezecelea, evoluflia tiparului ofset a avut un impact
direct asupra modului în care înflelegem aspectele fundamentale ale evolufliei în naturæ. Archaeopteryx Lithographica, o serie de øase reproduceri
litografice color editate la Copenhagen Editions, în Danemarca, în decembrie 2008, îøi ia numele de la una din cele mai importante descoperiri
de fosile din lume.
Descoperirea unei vechi pene fosilizate la Solnhofen, în Germania, a fost urmarea directæ a activitæflilor de exploatare rezultate din inventarea
øi succesul rapid al tipæriturii litografice. Litografia a fost inventatæ în 1796 de cætre – cine s-ar fi gândit – un actor øi un dramaturg næscut în Austria,
Johann Alois Senefelder (1771–1834). Senefelder ajunsese datornic din pricina problemelor avute cu tipærirea celei de-a doua piese a sa,
Mathilde von Altenstein, øi ca atare n-a reuøit sæ mai publice nicio altæ lucrare. El a început sæ experimenteze o nouæ tehnicæ de gravare folosind
o cernealæ grasæ rezistentæ la acid pe o bucatæ de calcar din Solnhofen – proces care s-a transformat în prima imprimare planograficæ. Iniflial cunoscutæ
ca „imprimarea pe piatræ“, litografia a fost patentatæ în 1818, iar în 1819 Senefelder a publicat Un curs complet de litografie care a
continuat sæ se tipæreascæ pînæ la începutul secolului al douæzecilea.
Pana fosilizatæ reprezentatæ de Archaeopteryx Lithographica a fost descoperitæ de cætre Herman von Meyer în 1861, la numai doi ani de la publicarea
de cætre Charles Darwin a Originii speciilor prin selecflie naturalæ, iar descoperirea a dat o greutate substanflialæ tezei lui Darwin. Aceastæ panæ
aparent nesemnificativæ aparflinuse, cu aproximativ 150 de milioane de ani înainte de-a fi descoperitæ, unei pæsæri primitive înrudite vag cu
dinozaurii, Urvöge. Pasærea, al cærei întreg schelet a fost gæsit, a fost numitæ ulterior Archaeopteryx Lithographica graflie faptului cæ a fost descoperitæ
în acelaøi calcar moale, neted øi fin din jurasic care era exploatat în sudul Germaniei în scopul producerii de pietre destinate imprimærii litografice.
În timpul jurasicului tîrziu, aceastæ zonæ, situatæ acum în Bavaria, era un arhipelag aflat la marginea Mærii Tetis øi care cuprindea lagune særate,
condiflii perfecte pentru crearea unor fosile excepflionale øi a unor pietre litografice.
Cînd von Meyer øi-a publicat descoperirile într-un articol din 1861, textul era ilustrat în mod adecvat cu o reproducere litograficæ a penei copiate
dupæ fosila de la Solnhofen. Aceastæ litografie øi o imagine fotograficæ a fosilei, datînd din secolul al nouæsprezecelea, produsæ de Muzeul Humboldt
(în cele din urmæ, casa ei), au devenit sursa celor cinci litografii Archaeopteryx Lithographica care retrimit imaginile la originea lor – înapoi
pe o placæ de calcar veche de 150 de milioane de ani. (Simon Starling, traducere de Alex Moldovan)
Simon Starling: Archaeopteryx Lithographica
This insert for IDEA Magazine explores a moment when in the 19th century the evolution of offset printing directly impacted on our understanding of the fundamentals
of evolution in nature. Archaeopteryx Lithographica, a series of 6 single colour lithographic prints produced at Copenhagen Editions, Denmark in December 2008, takes
its name from one of the most important fossil finds in history.
The discovery of an ancient fossilized feather in Solnhofen, Germany was the direct result of the quarrying activities that resulted from the invention and rapid success
of lithographic printing. Lithography was invented in 1796 by, of all people, an actor and playwright – the Austrian born Johann Alois Senefelder (1771–1834). Senefelder
had fallen into debt as a result of problems with the printing of his second play Mathilde von Altenstein and as a result was unable to publish any further work. He began
experimenting with a novel etching technique using a greasy acid resistant ink on a piece of Solnhofen limestone – this process evolved into the first planographic printing
process. Originally known as “stone printing”, lithography was patented in 1818 and in 1819 Senefelder published A Complete Course of Lithography that remained
in print until the early 20th century.
The feather fossil depicted in Archaeopteryx Lithographica was discovered by Hermann von Meyer in 1861, just two years after Charles Darwin published On the Origins
of Species by Means of Natural Selection and its discovery lent great weight to Darwin’s thesis. This seemingly humble feather had, some 150 million years prior to its discovery,
belonged to an Urvögel, a primitive bird and distant cousin to the dinosaurs. The bird, of which an entire skeleton was also found, was later named Archaeopteryx
Lithographica on account of its discovery in the same soft, smooth, fine grained Jurassic limestone that was being quarried in southern Germany to produce lithographic
printing stones. During the late Jurassic period, this area, now in Bavaria, was an archipelago at the edge of the Tethys Sea that included salty lagoons, perfect conditions
for the creation of both exceptional fossils and lithographic stones.
When von Meyer published his findings in an article in 1861 the text was fittingly illustrated by a lithographic print of the feather copied from the Solnhofen fossil.
This lithograph and a 19th century photographic image of the fossil made by the Humboldt Museum (its eventual home), became the source images for the six lithographs
Archaeopteryx Lithographica that return the images to their source – back once more on a slab of 150 million year old limestone. (Simon Starling)
SIMON STARLING was born in Epsom, GB, in 1967. Education: College of Art, Maidstone, Polytechnic, Nottingham, School of Art, Glasgow. Lives and work in Copenhagen and Berlin.
Selected exhibitions: 2008 Cutting (Supplement), Power Plant, Toronto; Three Birds, Seven Stories, Interpolation and Bifurcations, Galleria Franco Noero, Turin; Project for a public
sculpture (after Thomas Annan), The Modern Institute, Glasgow; 2007 Simon Starling – Kintsugi, Appenzell biennale, Schaukasten, Herisau (CH); Simon Starling – Nachbau, Museum
Folkwang, Essen; László Moholy-Nagy & Simon Starling, Presentation House Gallery, Vancouver; Particle Projection (Loop) Wiels, Brussels, Casey Kaplan, New York; 2006 Heidelberger
Kunstverein, Heidelberg; Wilhelm Noack oHG, neugerriemschneider, Berlin; 24 hr. Tangenziale, Galleria Franco Noero, Turin; 2005 C.A.M., World, Derry (IRE); Cuttings, Museum für
Gegenwartskunst, Basel; 2004 Tabernas Desert Run, The Modern Institute, Glasgow; Exposition, Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona; One Ton: neugerriemschneider, Berlin; Casey Kaplan,
New York; 2003 Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Rome; Djungel, South London Gallery, London; Carbon, Städtische Ausstellungshalle am Hawerkamp Münster; Villa Arson, Nice;
2002 Museum of Contemporary Art (with Mathew Jones), Sydney, UCLA Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; Kakteenhaus, Portikus, Frankfurt am Main; Djungel, Dundee Contemporary
Arts, Dundee (GB); Flaga (1972–2000), Galleria Franco Noero, Turin; Inverted Retrograde Theme, USA, Casey Kaplan, New York; 2001 Poul Henningsen – Simon Starling, Cooper
Gallery, University of Dundee; Burn-Time/Reading Room, Galerie für Gegenwartskunst, Barbara Claassen-Schmal, Bremen; Burn-Time, Lichthaus plus neue Kunst, Bremen; Work,
made ready, Les Beaux de Provence, Kunstverein Hamburg, Hamburg; CMYK/RGB, Frac, Languedoc-Roussillon, Montpellier; Inverted Retrograde Theme, Rescued Rhododendron
Seccession, Wien and neugerriemschneider, Berlin; John Hansard Gallery, University of Southhampton.
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