The Art of Tape: Straight Lines, Curves, and Curiosity
Part 2 in Our Overlooked Art Supply Series
Hellooooo GUT friends! Happy Sunday.
Last week, we continued our series on overlooked art materials with a focus on phenomenal Nigerian ballpoint artist Jacqueline Suowari. In our interview with Jacqueline, she spoke about how she came to specialize in ballpoint pens and the empowering stories she shares through her work. The wonderful self-portraits you all created in response to her assignment are phenomenal — take a look at GUT member’s amazing ballpoint self-portraits here. Pens up, indeed.
Today, we move onto our next overlooked art supply. And it is…..
Overlooked Art Supply: MASKING TAPE
Turns out MASKING TAPE isn’t merely a tool for painting or for sticking stuff to other stuff, it can be an art material itself.
In an incredible coincidence, not only is this year the 100th anniversary of the oil pastel, it’s also the 100th anniversary of the invention of masking tape. It’s like the art gods are guiding us… So let’s get to know this material and celebrate this big birthday together!
The Origin of Masking Tape: The Car?!
In the tape world, the tapes we know best all belong to the category of “pressure sensitive tape” — put a little pressure on the tape, and it sticks to the surface. No need to add water or heat or anything else to activate it. You might be surprised (I was!) to know the first pressure sensitive tape dates all the way back to 1845 when a surgeon Horace Day created one with cloth.
For the invention of masking tape though, you have to wait for Richard Drew. A banjo-playing college dropout in his early twenties, he started working at a local manufacturer Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing (better known today as 3M). While bringing samples of their sandpaper around to auto shops in 1923, he heard about their frustrations trying to achieve a two-toned paint job on customers’ cars. They were using all kinds of pastes to stick newspapers on and “mask” up sections to protect the paint while applying the second color. He watched and listened, and realized they needed an adhesive that was strong enough to adhere firmly but gentle enough to be removed without damaging the surface. He believed he could make it. So he returned to his shop and got to work.
After two years of experimentation and much persistence (his bosses told him to stop!), Drew developed masking tape in 1925. He went on to develop Scotch tape and then led 3M’s Products Fabrication Laboratory, contributing to a culture of creativity and innovation. Many people have praised Google for offering employees 20% of their work time to develop their own ideas and projects — but it’s 3M that introduced the “15% Rule”, and Drew’s dedication is credited by many for inspiring this practice.
What exactly IS Masking Tape? And Painter’s Tape? And Artist’s Tape? And Washi Tape?!?
What Drew invented was a tape that combined crepe paper with an adhesive designed to stay tacky. All these tapes essentially combine paper and an adhesive.
From what I can tell, Painter’s Tape is designed with a weaker adhesive than masking tape so it can be removed more easily and without a residue. Artist’s Tape is very similar but can be used on more delicate surfaces and can be acid-free. Washi Tape was invented in the 1990s with Japanese washi paper and is also easily removed. Its popularity mainly stems from its many colors and patterns.
Masking Tape Artists
Once again, you will not believe what people have done with this everyday material!
Flekz
Gustavo Fuentes, who goes by Flekz, is a Salvadoran-born first-generation artist based in LA. He got into making art with tape when he saw how tape could replace the stencils he was using, and now he sometimes uses tape as a tool for painting but often tape serves as the art itself. Get this, HE DOES NOT MEASURE — he works freehand! He creates his own guide lines with… more tape!
Darel Carey
Another tape artist based in LA is Darel Carey. His work is more organic, and he describes himself as influenced by MC Escher’s illusions, Sol LeWitt’s lines, Bridget Riley’s Op Art, and Carl Krull’s “seismic” style. You can his process in this video:
Born in Curaçao, Carey is half-Filipino and half-Irish. He grew up in Southern California and went into the Air Force. He attended Otis College of Art and Design and in his final year, he began experimenting with tape. In an interview with CanvasRebel, he reflected on his art:
Art is something different for everyone. … Some art appeals to emotion, and people are drawn to it because of how it makes them feel. My art appeals to wonder. At least that’s what I try to convey. I want to induce thought. Seeing lines on a wall banding together to create seemingly three-dimensional forms on flat surfaces makes one wonder how that is. It’s an illusion. It’s complex, but from a simple, organic process. It taps into how we perceive the world, and how things aren’t always what they seem.
TapeOver Berlin — co-founder, LaMia Michna
Berlin is home to an incredible range of tape artists. Many of them have found community through groups such as TapeOver, a collective co-founded by LaMia who goes by her first name. Like Carey, she found tape art as a student by using it for something else and discovering its versatility.
Tape Art by ATAU — Atau Hámos and Toni Prediger
Also based in Berlin, Atau Hámos and Toni Prediger work together on incredible vibrant installations. Hámos was formerly part of another prominent Berlin artist collective, Tape That, before striking off on his own and collaborating with Prediger. They have also led workshops to bring out others’ creativity and share about techniques of using tape for art.
Feeling inspired? Can you imagine artworks like these in your home?! Here’s how we’ll begin…
The Assignment: Playing Around with Wall Tape!
Let’s have some fun exploring this medium! We’re going to do this week’s assignment in three steps, so grab some masking tape and clear some wall space. This is going to be fun…
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