LOZ TAYLOR

Join Our Demo-Pop Art Family:

LIMITED ISSUE PRINTS (LIPS)

Over the past few years, during the development of ‘Stored Images’, and the transformation of my electronic images into hard copy art, I’ve been undecided as to whether to publish my work as Limited Edition Prints or Open Edition Prints.

I’ve never been happy with the idea of Limited Edition Prints, as it would almost forces me, as an artist, to produce a whole edition of prints all in one go. Going down this route using traditional print media, such as screen printing, would be very expensive, and anyway, I don’t like the idea that once an edition had been exhausted then no new collectors could be catered for. It seems too restrictive a format for my liking, especially as I am using a print method (digital) that enables me to publish almost at will. I’ve heard some artists / photographers say they will publish on demand until a certain number of prints has been reached, but does this hardly ever happen in the real world? – No, it does not.

Yet I wasn’t a fan of Open Edition Prints either, as the name implies that there would be no limit as to the number of prints that could be published. Such saturation would surely make the artist and collector feel that the image was less than special. Less of a reward for all the hard work invested in its creation, and less of a reward for all of the trust and support sought from a potential collector.

Then I hit upon the idea of LIMITED ISSUE PRINTS (or LIPS for short). This method of publishing prints enables the artist the freedom to set his or her own agenda. Personally, I like the idea of publishing one issue of one digital image per month, as this will generate a useful amount of prints per digital image per year (12), keeping them special, while at the same time eliminating the twin evils of restriction and proliferation. 

And as my catalogue of digital images grows over the years, I also know that I will be setting myself a publishing agenda that I will have the time to honour. This is because every print that is published under the banner of ‘Stored Images’ comes  out of my studio at Makers Dozen, Wolverhampton, enabling me to keep an eye on quality control, but, more importantly, guaranteeing their authenticity.