printerartists

Printerartists is a term used to describe artists who treat printers—inkjet, laser, or other digital printers—as central artistic tools and media. Works by printerartists may be primarily two-dimensional prints produced on consumer or professional printers, or may involve three-dimensional forms produced with 3D printers. The practice often engages with questions of reproducibility, authorship, materiality, and access to technology. The label is not universally standardized and is used variably in contemporary discourse.

Common techniques include digital image creation or manipulation, generative or algorithmic processes, variable data printing, and the use of archival inks and papers to preserve editions. In 3D printing practices, artists create sculptural objects or editions by printing with polymers, resins, or metal composite materials, sometimes post-processing after printing. Hybrid works combine traditional drawing or painting with printed elements or integrate printed surfaces into installations.

Context and history: As digital imaging and affordable printers became widespread in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, artists began exploring printing as not merely a reproduction tool but a medium in its own right. The field overlaps with digital art, printmaking, and new media art, including generative art and postdigital aesthetics.

Reception and market: Printerartworks may be shown in galleries, museums, and print rooms; editions are often sold in multiples, with attention to archiving and edition size. Critics consider the practice in terms of accessibility, democratization of image making, and debates over originality and authenticity in machine-produced art.