The 4th conference in June 2015 focussed on outmoded techniques of artistic processes. The point of convergence was explicitly on the anachronism of the application of techniques that were considered outdated, old-fashioned or had disappeared but were nevertheless applied. 12 approaches from different periods were presented. These are recorded in the conference proceedings in a slightly expanded format. Each contribution looks at the motivation and manifestation of a technique that had already been used in the past and was unexpectedly "rediscovered", "reconstructed" or "further developed" in the respective present moment of research. In doing so, the investigation of applied techniques allows for a more precise analysis of the artwork beyond its materiality and within its historical and topographical contexts.
In her essay "Recourse or simulation?", art historian Antonia Putzger examines the deliberate use of outmoded painting techniques in the field of early modern copying practices taking the example of the Flemish painter Michiel Coxies (1499-1592). He was commissioned by the art collector and regent Mary of Hungary (1505-1558) to create a reproduction of the "Decent from the Cross" by Rogier van der Weyden (1399 or 1400 - 1464). For Philip II of Spain (1527-1598) he was also commissioned to copy the "Ghent Altarpiece" by the van Eyck brothers. Examination of the painting technique revealed that Coxie certainly attempted to simulate the techniques used. But an analysis of the structure of the layers of the painting, the surface contours, which indicate a transfer of the paintings motif by means of tracing; and applied painting techniques also reveal that he attempted to approximate the original methods with the techniques available to him in his own time and even deliberately departed from the original at various points. Nevertheless, the copyist's technical expertise in engaging with the original painting cannot be dismissed as the copy of the masterpiece enjoyed equal appreciation on the part of its noble patrons.
The contribution by art historian Magdalena Bushart (b. 1957) "Untimely contemporary" examines the revival of traditional relief and intaglio printing techniques. Woodcut, copperplate engraving and etching had not fallen into oblivion but were replaced by cheaper and mass production methods for printed products by better suited techniques. However, in the elaborate production of single sheet works the technique continued to be used and an explicit recollection resumed. The author highlights four practical examples in her research. One of them is the American artist Chuck Close (1940-2021), who was known for having worked intensively with techniques that were not part of the canon of contemporary art production. In 1972, he experimented with the mezzotint technique, an intaglio printing process developed in 1642 by Ludwig von Siegen (1609-1680), which had reached its peak with the printing of English portrait paintings of the 17th and 18th centuries. The project of transferring a photographic original to the printing plate proved to be very complex. All production steps took place at the Crown Point Press in San Francisco. In addition, a separate press had to be manufactured and printing specialists helped with the etching of the plate. The result turned out to be differed from the mezzotintos of the 17th and 18th centuries both because he chose to use a larger format and its design effects diverged from the original technique. The artist emphasised that it was important for him to know the history and tradition of the technique in order to be able to break with it. This allowed him to distance himself from a reproduction that was true to the original template, pushing the print towards a transformative process with the result that the perception of the final work also changed.
Looking back through the essays it can be noted that artistic processes and techniques are to be understood as instruments that through their unusual reuse and adaptation produce new approaches and solutions in their examined respective contexts and therefore expand the development of the arts and the production processes of artistic works.
