the art of printmaking and how it is done in other countries

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<Tab/>At a time where the American people are living in a state of limbo between fear and
power, a piece of home is much welcomed. Those who lost loved ones in 9/11 or in the continuous
war look for memories in the (smallest) things. Objects in a family room tend to keep memories,
and the mere sight of them releases these memories. This idea is shown through a very elaborate
chandelier photographed by Edward Bernstein in three separate prints, Constellation I, II, and III.
<Tab/>Edward Bernstein uses light and shadow to portray the good and bad of the past. Just
as a memory can be fuzzy and hard to grasp, the print is blurry and almost illusive. The pale lights
suggest distance, and even someone (the viewer) being swallowed by an empty, lifeless room.
Chandeliers of this size don't usually appear in homes, rather they are hanging from intricately
designed ceilings of ballrooms and hotels. They give a sense of high class with a touch of
elegance. Just looking at this print reminds most of proms, large occasions, awards, and even dark
funerals. The light, which almost looks flickering, gives a sense of fading as if the memory is
fading also. The chandelier has three tiers which are all connected by glass strands of hope. The
shadow effectively gives the viewer a sense of past and presence, with the light representing the
present, near future. The movie, Blow, showed the cocaine dealer's house in which he had a large
chandelier. He valued his dining room in which the chandelier was placed, and throughout the
movie you could see the good and bad, even what the future held. To him, this was the centerpiece
of his family life in his household.
<Tab/>The long curved, lifeless limbs of the chandelier and the rusty look of the base give it
a worn look representing its actual age. Elaborate tiers and actual candles differ from modern
chandeliers in which bulbs are replaced yearly. Chandeliers have almost become commonplace in
homes of average families. The particular chandeliers in this piece of art are Venetian Murano
glass chandeliers. Most Venetian Murano chandeliers are made of hand blown glass. Each piece
of glass used must be fired up and blown to a certain unique shape. This means that each
chandelier has its own unique style which may not be visible to the untrained eye. These
chandeliers were beautifully photographed and then were put through the printmaking process.
<Tab/>Artwork has to have form, strokes, lines, paints, and colors. This is not exactly true
with the process of printmaking. Printmaking occurs when image is taken from a matrix and put
onto a transferring base. A matrix can be made of stone or metal plate. The image is drawn,
etched, or carved into the matrix. Ink coats the matrix and shortly after being coated, it is covered

with a transferring base. This base is usually paper or fabric. The final step is to print it with a
roller press, or a hand press. The resemblance from the original to the copy is almost identical.
There are several different printmaking techniques.
<Tab/>One of these techniques is etching, more specifically, photo etching (used by
Edwards Bernstein). In this process, the high contrast film is the matrix and the plate is the
transferring base. The plate is covered with a light sensitive emulsion, and placed upside down on
the plate. The emulsion is then exposed to a light source that uses ultraviolet rays. The image is
allowed to harden on the plate, and then be washed, so that the flaky pieces will wash away. What
ever is left now becomes the image. The plate is etched and follows the original printmaking
process.
<Tab/>"Expressionists embrace art about life (Barrett 146)." Past experiences and lessons
learned come out through the paintbrush, then are shown on the canvas. Edwards Bernstein's
Constellation I, II, and III can be viewed as a type of expressionism. Memory is the same as past
experiences. Without memory, past experiences cannot be remembered. Bernstein feels that he has
refined the representation of memory and personal history using light and cast shadow from the
glass chandeliers.