#flatbed scan

Oaxacan Cannabis Sativa "String of Pearls"

A final sequence of flatbed scans (and a macro image) that I edited and compiled.

I'm proud to announce the completion of my first genetic preservation project.

Growing this plant from seed to mature flower took around 9 months and 15 days. This is only my second season growing cannabis, and I knew I wanted to tackle something that even seasoned growers avoid. Gardening in a frost-free climate gave me a massive advantage when taking on this beast of a plant. The seeds were source from a forum giveaway and are of an endangered Mexican sativa. A pure "NLD (narrow-leaf-drugtype)" variety. The plants stretched to over 9ft tall and flowered from late September to mid January. All plants had a stretchy, Christmas tree type structure.

I wanted to grow this cultivar for a variety of reasons, the first being that it had been selected for an uber niche "String of Pearls" bud structure. This structure has excellent resistance to bud rot and insect damage but is selected against due to massively lower yields and a strange appearance. The cannabis cultivar community often worships dense, rock-hard "golf ball nugs" attributed to hybridization with wide-leafed varieties otherwise known as Indica. This popularized idea of "bag appeal" and profit maximization motivates breeders to cull and dispose of looser bud structures such as pearls. As a result, "pearly buds" are a very rare and elusive trait that must be hunted for. As of posting this, there is no commercial seed line available deliberately selected or advertised for this trait.

The second reason I wanted to grow an Oaxacan Landrace was because of the potential presence of THCV (Tetrahydrocannabivarin), a niche Cannabinoid linked to increased energy and motivation, suppressed appetite, and can potentially reduce blood sugar. I wanted to provide ill friends and family a form of relief that would not come at a cost of over-eating and lethargy.

Mission Control - digital media - robert matejcek - 2024

"The spaceman says, 'Everybody look down… It's all in your mind'…" - The Killers - Spaceman

Scan those Photographs

It’s the easiest and I found quickest way of reproducing an image that you do not have the negative for, and I had used this method for an earlier project so of course it was my first (and only shhhh...) thought!

Personally, I love this method. The scanner used was Epson V700 flatbed which I have. However because Mac decided to update its system and I silly enough clicked the update button (after years of not doing so)! The new updates weren’t compatible with the old version of Epson Scan and I had done everything I possibly could but it just wasn’t having it *insert loud screams and floods of eye waters*

Not to worry, as uni had the V750 and I was already inducted to use them.

The reason why this scanning photographs appeals to me is because you can really see the texture of the photographic paper come through. Most generic prints these days are glossy and flat (some times both texture and colour wise), in contrast to a print from 1960′s going back. This is what I had come to realise whilst going through the vast collection which my aunt had (shock horror) so badly stored in one giant plastic bag.

If the texture doesn’t call to your photo geek within, then take a closer look at your screen at the tones. Tones like this, cannot be recreated in the same way. The paper and chemicals used then have changed so much so that even digit prints (after editing) won’t have the same aesthetic. It’s a sad reality many analogue/ archive buffs come to.

Are you convinced yet? No...? Well...

Take a look at the aesthetic of the edge of these photographs. Notice how it looks as if you could just reaching down and pick it up. This is something I have not seen in photographs of photographs before. A limbo between 2D and 3D. Enticing, no! The edges in scans make these photographs pop, the slightly burnt outline helps to differentiate the object [photograph] from its background. Clearly stating that this is an object. A print/image of a photograph.

Disclaimer: all these are from my father’s family. The first image is of my granpere <3

Small Screens: Glitch No. 76 - digital media - robert matejcek - 2021

Infomercial Salesman: "Here's how it works: Catch a bass, remove the hook, and drop the bass, that's the whole bass, into the Super Bass-O-Matic '76. Now adjust the control dial, so that bass, is blended just the way you like it."

- Dan Aykroyd - Saturday Night Live

For the Movies: Glitch No. 77 - digital media - robert matejcek - 2021

Double J: “Ton’, what you gonna’ have to drink? We’ll get you somethin’.”

Tony Manero: “Seven-seven.”

Double J: “Seventy-seven.”

- Paul Pape & John Travolta - Saturday Night Fever

Small Screens: Glitch No. 84 - digital media - robert matejcek - 2021

Sonny Crockett: "I usually take the Ferrari."

- Don Johnson - Miami Vice

For the Movies: Glitch No. 21 - digital media - robert matejcek - 2021

Jack Torrance: “It's good to be back, Lloyd!”

- Jack Nicholson - The Shining