A World Without Paper
It’s nigh impossible to imagine a world without paper. Paper is something that is a constant in our daily life and has shaped our entire history, it has directly contributed so much to the spread and retention of knowledge, and has had a very great impact on art. The earliest form of written documentation we have discovered was on clay tablets created by the ancient Sumerians. The method of this ancient writing was imprinting the symbols into the wet clay with papyrus reeds. This script extended to help create the first written laws, Hammurabi’s Code in which the cuneiform symbols were carved into stone detailing the relationship between different crimes and their corresponding punishments. Another predecessor to paper was parchment which was a writing surface made from animal skin. The earliest example of parchment being used was in Egypt in the second millennium, but it was never more popular than the more convenient papyrus. Parchment was much more popular in Europe during the Hellenistic period.
Hammurabi’s Code
From Pulp to Enlightenment
Early forms of paper were created in China during the second century BCE. Their main motivation towards the creation of paper was to make a writing surface that was more accessible than silk, but also more convenient than bamboo. These early papers were made mostly out of hemp but then later evolved to a pounded blend of different vegetable fibres and shredded cloth rags. This blend has been come to known as paper pulp. The paper pulp is then soaked in water and dried individually to create paper. Ancient Chinese people quickly adopted paper in their lives, two examples of some uses aside from writing were toilet paper and wrapping. Even though paper making was attempted to be kept a secret, it was spread to the middle east by Chinese prisoners who were kept in the Battle of Tales.
Process of Making Paper
A World Without Paper: The Sequel
Here is where I’ll state my opinion on the importance of this medium and the future it has with humanity. There has been a common opinion that humans will move to an entirely paperless future, with the rise of digital media. I do want to move steps closer to a greener future, but I do think paper has a sustainable and important place in the future. Most People retain information better by writing down notes, and even with the rise of digital painting, there is a need for traditional artists or printing pictures. I also think paper can achieve being more eco-friendlier easier than its digital counterpart because you can make pulp from recycled materials. But even if paper becomes nothing more than a novelty in the future, the traces of the art remain everywhere, like for example how in emails “cc” stands for carbon copy and how pages are laid out. We write and draw, making marks on paper and in return paper has definitely left its mark on humanity.
https://knilt.arcc.albany.edu/Lesson_1.1:_What_is_digital_writing%3F
References
Britt, K. W. (n.d.). Papermaking. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved October 5, 2021, from https://www.britannica.com/technology/papermaking.
B., R. S. (1999). Parchment. In G. W. Bowersock, P. R. L. Brown, & O. Grabar (Eds.), Late antiquity: a guide to the postclassical world. Harvard University Press. Credo Reference: https://ezproxy.capilanou.ca/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/hupla/parchment/0?institutionId=6884
Cartwright, M. (2021, October 3). Paper in ancient China. World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved October 5, 2021, from https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1120/paper-in-ancient-china/.
Paper. (2012). In M. Bird, 100 ideas that changed art. Laurence King. Credo Reference: https://ezproxy.capilanou.ca/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/lkingaijn/paper/0?institutionId=6884
Wendorf, M. (2019, April 25). The history of paper. Interesting Engineering. Retrieved October 5, 2021, from https://interestingengineering.com/the-long-and-complex-history-of-paper.