By the time this issue comes out, the Spring Equinox will have tipped the balance of light and darkness in favor of days-at least, for those of us in the north temperate zones. On the January day of this writing, we are just emerging from the ultimate darkness of the Winter Solstice. Always surprising at this time of year is how quickly we see the addition of minutes of light to each day. Small increments of light alter darkness in a way that doesn't happen in reverse. A well-known experiment proves that a white spot on a black ground appears to expand, while the same sized spot of black on white appears to contract.

An interest in the relationship of dark and light has fascinated artists as well as scientists over the centuries. "Chiaroscuro" is a wel lremembered concept from Art History 101. Recently roaming through the El Greco exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum, I noted that for a painter, coaxing light from darkness is often additive, as in brushing strokes of white over colors. A textile artist can go the other way, exploring light and darkness through the process of discharge that removes color from cloth.

"Magical" is the word that keeps coming up in reference to discharge. Indeed, there is something thrilling about the emergence of pattern on black material that has been subjected to a discharging substance. Admittedly, I pondered the wisdom of producing a magazine version of a black and white film. How would readers accustomed to delectable color respond to pages of fiber noir? Trust art to solve that dilemma. Where there is a void, an artist will fill it. It turns out that a black and white field creates the possibility of new ways of looking at and building up color. And, since discharge involves the removal of color dyed into the structure, not just riding on the surface, of fibrous material, it allows a quality of color that cannot be replicated in a medium other than cloth.

As always in a process-specific issue, we've tried to span a range of applications of discharge, from garments to artworks and accessories for the home. We reached for its origins, and found that Jay Rich was eager to speculate on serendipitous beginnings. It also seemed a good time for a tutorial, and Karren Brito was ready to share some of the secrets she folds into scarves that are a world in themselves.

We discovered that discharge is not only an effect, but also has a dimension of affect. Thus, in quilts constructed of discharged fabrics, Clare Plug communicates the environmental mood of her New Zealand homeland.

Some artists, like sculptors who chip at stone to reveal forms within, find shapes hidden in darkness. In Carmen Grier's work, for example, lightening the ground allows the shapes of natural forms like flowers and birds to come forth.