Hamilton Wayzgoose 2011

The third annual Wayzgoose at the Hamilton Wood Type and Printing Museum was fantastic. We printed our own posters with Brad Vetter and Jim Sherraden of Hatch Show Print, tried our hands at some calligraphy with Paul Shaw, cut our own letterforms for pressure printing with Juliet Shen and Carl Montford and bound our own portfolios with Kevin Steele. The typographer, Matthew Carter (creator of on-screen classics such as Verdana and Georgia) gave an excellent talk complete with actual slides. Judith Poirier of École de design UQAM in Montreal shared with us her incredible experimental films: she letterpress prints directly on 16 and 35 mm film stock to create animations.

We met some great people, had tons of fun, ate too many cheese curds, and came home with inky hands. Looking forward to doing it again next year, Two Rivers!

SWAG we get to make ourselves. I wanted one in every color.

 Jim Sherraden and Brad Vetter (both far left) of Hatch Show Print

Calligraphy with Paul Shaw. He made it look so easy!

Busy binders

Printing with amazing old blocks from Hatch Show Print

Evidence from last year's wayzgoose

Post and photos by Claire Sammons

2011 Printers' Ball: It's Alive!

This post is a bit overdue as the 7^th Annual Printers' Ball was on July 29th. We were waiting for the professional pics to arrive, and they were worth the wait. Thanks to the photographers Alexis Ellers, Jonathan Mathias and Steve Woodall for their fantastic documentation. 

Zombies check out some hand bound books in the bindery.

Photography by Alexis Ellers

In case you don't know, the Printers' Ball is one of the largest literary events in the country, and it is totally free to all ages. This year, we estimated that over 3,000 people attended this one-night-only celebration in the Ludington Building. It is sponsored by the Poetry Foundation and Poetry magazine with the Center for Book & Paper Arts, the Chicago Underground Library, Columbia College Chicago, and MAKE magazine.

In addition to the live music, readings, tables upon tables of free books and magazines, zombie face painting, Kindle (or actual book) dunk tank, and free beer, many PIT members also hosted several Book Arty demos. Hordes of Printers' Ball attendees came to learn about and participate in hand papermaking, book binding and letterpress printing. It was a very exciting night and here are the pictures to prove it.

Chris Saclolo demonstrates some hand binding techniques.

Photography by Alexis Ellers

Boo Gilder and Hannah King make paper laminations with string

Photography by Alexis Ellers

Claire Sammons helps participants print Chicago postcards on a letterpress

(Photography by Jonathan Mathias)

A bustling letterpress studio

(Photography by Steve Woodall)

Liz Isakson-Dado and Boo Gilder at work in the paper studio

(Photography by Alexis Ellers)

Jenna Rodriguez mixes ink before the letterpress demo.

(Photography by Steve Woodall)

Posted by Claire Sammons

The wayzgoose is coming! The wayzgoose is coming!

The Hamilton Wood Type and Printing Museum's annual type conference is coming up this November 4, 5 and 6. But it's way more fun to just call it Hamilton Wayzgoose 2011. Wtf is a wayzgoose you ask? Allow us to spare you the Google search: traditionally, the wayzgoose was pretty much a big party the master printer would give to his workers at the end of the summer season. Hamilton's wayzgoose retains the fun and celebratory atmosphere of ye olde days with the added intellectual stimulation of a conference!

Several of us Book & Paper-ers went last year and had a truly amazing time. We learned all about the magical world of wood type, printed our own souvenir posters (from wood type, of course) networked with an international community of print/type rock stars, ogled over the museum's collection of type, and had coffee and donuts for breakfast every day. It really is a fantastic experience even if you're not a type geek . . . but after the weekend is over you might want to become one.

 For more information about Hamilton and its fabled wayzgoose go to woodtype.org

Posted by: Claire Sammons 

Welcome Back to School with PIT!

Hello! Though Pulp, Ink and Thread has been on a bit of a blogging hiatus, this semester we have resolved to update the PIT blog with events, articles and our own involvement in the book and paper world every few weeks! 

 

 PIT had a table at this summer's Chicago Book and Paper Fair, a one day exposition and sale of Antiquarian books and ephemera.  We were the only student booth there, and collectors were very interested in our original and newly printed work and handmade paper.  More pictures to follow... but here is a trusty Hipstamatic of the spread:

To start the school year off right, I thought I'd share a few links to online collections of artist's books.

I discovered "Browsing Copy" in a recent Wall Street Journal article.  Created by a Singaporean book collector Roy Poh, Browsing Copy is an online exhibition of altered books made from bookstore display copies that were damaged and deemed un-sellable. Poh found stores to donate these well used volumes- usually books that had interesting or inspiring content, and sent them to artists with this message:

 “I am over-used, mishandled, I remained on the shelf, unappreciated…Dear XXX, you are invited to bring this book back to life."

 

You can view the results at the online exhibition of Browsing Copy here, with plenty of stunning photo slideshows.  Poh has plans to make a catalog of the work, and will print and distribute them to bookstores, where they will be available for browsing only.

This project reminded me of The Love Library, another ongoing and online collection of artists books made from altered romance novels.  Sculptor and mixed media artist Chido Johnson began the library and the accompanying website, “Let’s Talk About Love, Baby,” as a testament to his childhood in Africa, where the only books he had to read in English were his mothers collection of pulp romance novels.  

Chido invited artists to alter existing novels or interpret their own book-object to certain specifications- books needed to be the size of a paperback and have a certain font on the spine. The results are charming, often satirical, books that turn the clichéd subject into a provocative look at lust, gender and relationships.  The library has traveled from Detroit to Zimbabwe to Chicago, with its most recent stop in St. Louis. Some of my favorites are listed by artist below, including my own contribution, though there are hundreds of titles in the ongoing collection from all over North America, Europe, and Africa.  

 Faina Lerman's image is above

Here is a link to the catalogue- I recommend these artists:

Susan Campbell

Faina Lerman

Graem Whyte

Jacklyn Brickman

Youmna Chlala

Ed Brown and Annie Reinhardt

Gilda Snowden

Elizabeth Isakson

Hope you enjoy these collections!

Elizabeth Isakson-Dado, PIT Secretary 

Art on Track: Train #8

And appearing in Train #8 ......

a sneak preview of one of the sculptures CJ Mace will be installing onboard

Come check out our installation and print, LIVE, with the artists of Spudnik Press: Angee Lennard, CJ Mace,Sanya Glisic, Liz Born, Michelle Mashon, and Nev Pilipovic-Wengler of Spudnik. That's right! We are bring an etching press on the "L".

Train #8, also known as the Addington Gallery train, will also feature the work of another local artist, Rennee Robbins, and Beth Mercer.

It's going to be a trainsforming experience!