You may have noticed that the last few headers of this blog have contained Chinese block stamps. The stamps were something I had made while traveling in Beijing last year with the Design Asia program run by my colleague David Matthews. They are my name translated into Chinese characters. Traditionally, I believe the characters would have been associated with the meanings of the name of the person. For a westerner, the stamp carver works phonetically, translating the sound of the name into equivalent Chinese sounds used in the characters represented.
The stamp as a signature has significant history in China. It has ben used to sign artwork, documents, etc…. How common the usage of the stamp is today, I do not know.
I have always been drawn to beauty of these stamps in Chinese calligraphy, landscape painting, and drawings. I had the pleasure of seeing a great deal of actual work in museum collections in China, and had been familiar with much of this work as presented in collections in the US. The combination of the character/figure is really an example of a living pictogram. Formally, I have always been drawn to the abstracted marks used in the formation of these stamps, as well as the square format, and the bright red ink. In a drawing, or work of art, this geometric square compliments the more traditional combinations of black ink on raw rice paper. It gives a chromatic and graphic contrast to the artwork, becoming part of the overall visual read.
When I had these made, I had the fantasy that I would use these as a signature for my own work. There is one problem however: I’m not Chinese. Nor is this my culture or my tradition. I have been playing with them as a texture in drawings, and they are a great graphic to integrate in a blog, but the actual honest use of these seems precocious to me. I can’t decide if the desire to use them remains simply formal (which is a bad thing to many), or if I suffer the typical travel fantasies of a contemporary western traveler who wants to own or in some way commodity my desire to take part of my experience back to my own personal work. One might argue that I am simply appropriating, but I fear this would be another red flag. My appropriation would most likely reinforce all the post-colonial conversations so ever present in art speak today. Alas…..no justification in sight I fear. But they sure are cool! and for now, will remain part of my blog header.
The stamps are carved out of decorative marble posts. I picked out the posts with my good friend and travel companion Anna (a GA on the Design Asia trip who proved to help keep me sane). Via a game of charades, we communicated with the Chinese shop owner and calligrapher to have them carved. The next morning they were ready for pick up.
The calligrapher signs the side of the post, validating the stamp.
Relax and use them. They are lovely, and their history has now merged with yours. So it goes…