Digital Kanthas: Print waste as ornament

This article reflects on a body of practice-based research that considers the recycling of images found in discarded waste sheets from commercial offset-lithography. Specifically, it considers how images derived from Indian print waste might be recycled to create new forms of ornament that reflect upon cross-cultural exchange and globalization. Initially working with large-format waste sheets derived from billboard advertising in the United Kingdom, the author utilized cropping and re-contextualization to create new works. Working with waste gathered from the floors of a thriving print hub in southern India provided an opportunity to extend this exploration to consider waste sheets as catalysts for new forms of ornament, with the content directly referencing themes of historical and contemporary cultural exchange and globalization. Largely facilitated by digital tools and connectivity, a new generation of Indian designers have overseen a significant shift in Indian graphic design over the past twenty years. This has been most evident in the packaging of fireworks and hand-rolled cigarettes, where traditional and religious motifs have increasingly been marginalized in favour of the integration of western, secular imagery. Working with waste sheets used in the packaging of Indian fireworks and cigarettes, the author considers the Bengali Kantha – a traditional form of embroidered blanket – as a suitable model with which to explore new forms of ornament, connecting the traditional crafts practices of India with contemporary graphic design, and in turn provide a platform for a body of new works that reflect on perceived narrowing of the gap between graphic and textile design through digital production and print technologies.