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Source: The Santa Fe New MexicanOct.迷利倉 11--In 1888, Charles Edward Munroe, an American chemist, observed that when a block of explosive guncotton with the manufacturer's name on it was detonated next to a metal plate, the manufacturer's name was etched onto the plate by the force of the blast, a phenomenon that became known as the "Munroe effect." Nearly a century later, Gideon Sivan, an Israeli scientist working on civilian uses for explosives at the Energetic Materials Research and Testing Center of the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology in Socorro, was studying the Munroe effect and its possible application in creating decorative images. The energy of an explosion could force a metal plate around the contours of a raised object on its surface. His search to find an artist to help him explore creative uses for explosives led him to Evelyn Rosenberg, an Albuquerque-based printmaker whose etching plates, Sivan was told, resembled his exploded pieces. "It was one of these things," Rosenberg told Pasatiempo. "He was like a cousin of a friend of an aunt, that kind of thing. So he got my name and came over one night and asked me if I wanted to go down to Socorro and blow something up. Of course, I said yes. You can't resist something like that." Rosenberg deemed the art-making technique she developed with Sivan "detonography." Nearly 30 years later, the technique is still Rosenberg's primary means of creating art, and a new book by the artist, Detonography: The Explosive Art of Evelyn Rosenberg, is available from the University of New Mexico Press.As part of her process, documented in the book in photographs by John Trotter, Rosenberg makes plaster molds of objects and covers them with a metal plate coated with C-1 plastic explosive. The shapes of the molds are imprinted into the metal plate after detonation. "My original thought was maybe this would be a way to make very big etching plates," Rosenberg said. "I had these huge vats of acid in my backyard. I thought this was maybe a less dangerous way to make the etching plates. But when I saw that the potential was not for making etching plates but for making the actual pieces themselves, I skewed in that direction."Rosenberg draws inspiration from objects of various cultures such as Japanese kimonos and ancient cylinder seals -- incised stone cylinders dating to ancient Mesopotamia that, when rolled out over clay or other surfaces, leave an imprint, similar to more modern printing techniques. Her work contains a blend of allegorical imagery, richly textured embroidery-like patterns, symbols, and human/animal hybrids. "I had studied comparative religion and philosophy and have always been interested in -- not exactly mythological themes, but the connection between nature and human beings and the way that people and animals are interconnected. Animals have as much soul, in their way, as people, and should be respected. In ancient cultures, people understood that."The description of process is an important element of the book. Rosenberg is the only artist working in the medium, and it gradually became important to her to document her working methods so the technique would not be lost. To illustrate all of the different elements involved, she developed one large piece called The Land o自存倉 Enchantment, inspired by New Mexico's natural beauty and spirit. She hired Trotter to photograph each stage of its development for inclusion in the book. She begins with a design template corresponding to the size of the metal plate and then traces the design on a thick sheet of aluminum foil, which she tools into a sculptural form to make a three-dimensional plaster mold. Rosenberg uses objects of all kinds, including organic materials that she presses into clay, in combination with the aluminum as a base for the molds. When covered with plaster and blasted at the EMRTC testing site, the resulting positive imprint in the metal reproduces the most minute details of the original object. In addition to the shape of a leaf, for instance, detonography also captures its small tears and thin veins. The finishing process takes the most time, as Rosenberg adds patinas and polishes the work until it achieves a lustrous, jewel-toned glow.The ability to render intricate detail using a dangerous and unruly medium like detonography led Rosenberg to experiment with various embroidered textiles. "I've been playing around a lot with quilts and scarves. Each has a different pattern. I'm trying to push that a little more. Anybody who's wearing a shirt or jacket with embroidery on it is in danger. I'll say, 'I really like your shirt,' you know? When people I know travel somewhere they always bring me some embroidery." An example in the book is Rosenberg's Kimono from 2011. "That kimono has pieces of fabric from all over the world," Rosenberg said. Her Heritage Quilt is part of a larger work called We the People, a memorial for Paul and Sheila Wellstone that is installed in Neighborhood House, an organization that assists low-income, immi- grant, and refugee families in St. Paul, Minnesota. "The people from that center all sent me fabric from their home countries." Rosenberg pressed the fabric into molds for her metal quilt, a series of rectangular patches, each with a unique textile design. "During the dedication, people came up and said to me 'Oh, that was my bridal dress,' or 'That was my mother's embroidery.' That was special."When it comes to explosives testing in New Mexico, it's easy to think of the state's history as the home of the first atomic bomb, detonated at Trinity Site on the White Sands Missile Range on July 16, 1945. But Rosenberg's work avoids atomic themes and references. The process involves forces strong enough to disintegrate or crumble the molds into pieces and send a metal sheet flying high into the air if it isn't heavy enough to withstand the force of the blast, but the violent nature of the work is in contrast to the imagery produced. "Everyone says, 'What's a little girl like you doing blowing things up?' You know, because I'm short. I always say I see this almost like a feminine process. It's like giving birth, because you have this messy, dangerous, scary thing, but then you get this beautiful object that comes out of it.""Detonography: The Explosive Art of Evelyn Rosenberg" was published in September by the University of New Mexico Press.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 The Santa Fe New Mexican (Santa Fe, N.M.) Visit The Santa Fe New Mexican (Santa Fe, N.M.) at .santafenewmexican.com Distributed by MCT Information Services迷你倉