al-Hubb

Provenance:
Paper Type: Lokta
Paper Size: 8.5" x 5.5"
Image Size: 4" x 6" (3.5" x 5.5")
Edition Size: 35
Date: 2010-01-24
Inks Used: Van Son Rubber-based Ink,  Opaque White [4], Purple [1], Setswell 10%
Notes:    I found a website for Arabic writing and copied the script for al-Hubb (after corroborating through other sources). This  I printed onto parchment paper and glued [Photo Mount 3M No. 6092] to a linoleum block, clamped the block for two days, then cut through the paper under magnification [table-mounted lens with light or a stereo dissecting microscope Bausch & Lomb 13x].  

   As soon as I had enough self-awareness to begin to formulate my life-goals, I clearly understood that my purpose in life was to understand as much about the world as I could in the short reach of my lifespan. Much of our understanding is mediated through language, so it is not surprising that as an undergraduate philosophy student, my special interest was the Ordinary Language philosophies of Ludwig Wittgenstein. For him, language was something like a game played by the speakers who agreed on a common set of meanings to make comprehension and communication possible. Back then, in the middle of the Cold War, I undertook Russian mostly because I wanted to unriddle the Cyrillic alphabet and come to understand a language not normally accessible, and in that way clarify how the rules of language are constructed in the context of a new language.  If I were an undergraduate now, I am sure I would be studying Arabic instead of Russian.  
    Al-Hubb is the Arabic for "Love," here printed on Lokta paper, an especially rich paper made in in the Himalayan mountains from the bark of Daphne papyracea found between the altitudes of 6500ft to 9500ft. Lokta paper is incredibly strong even when thin and has a great affinity to ink, which makes it an especially suitable paper for printmaking. The Lokta plant is harvested by cutting at ground level without destroying the main root, so it regenerates naturally in a couple of years [details].
   Printed for the Printer's Guild of Houston as a print exchange for guild members, and for sale at the Museum of Printing History.