1.Printopia – The vinyl record. In the year 2021, Tipos en su Tinta were offered an artist residency at the Fine Art Museum of Tenerife. At about the same time the experimental musician Ernst Surberg visited their workshop and got inspired by the sounds and interacting movements of the ‘bodies’: machines and humans. Recordings of the activity became musical material, that again was manipulated and performed live together with musician Esther Ropón at the closure event of the exhibition. The cover and poster illustration were created by printing an obsolete hard drive and other discarded objects from modern living, making reference to the unique mixture of mechanical sounds from the workshop and their modulations with the synthesizer, but also to emphasize the continuous long life of the letterpress printing technique - link
2. Sadly the The Musee & Atelier in Bordeaux (France) is closing and selling off its contents. If you are interested please contact Claude Chaulfeteau by telephone: 05 56 92 61 17 or email: mib33800@gmail.com for further information. It's utterly sad that this museum and atelier is closing but hopefully good homes will be found for the equipment - link
3. Gordel van papier’ about the advent of the printed book in Indonesia. It covers the period 1816-1957. Huis van het boek (The Hague, NL) - link
4. Save the date! From 23rd to 25th of May 2024, TYPA centre will host the annual AEPM conference with the theme of "Printing Museums and the Art of Survival" in Tartu, Estonia - link
HITS! – PRINTMAKERS' TOP TEN
When Annegret Frauenlob (Atelier für Grafik und Buchkunst, DE) invited me to participate in the 'Hits! Printmakers' Top Ten' project I wasn't quite familiar with it yet, but as it involved music and printmaking I thought 'Hey, you can't go wrong with that, can you;)'.
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Quick links
1. The Plantin-Moretus Museum has an extraordinary collection of 14,000 woodblocks. 14,000 examples of true craftmanship, drawings masterly cut in wood. Be impressed! - link
2. ‘The Secret History of Writing’ documentary by BBC - link
3. Piano variations on Jesus Christ Superstar by Stefano Bollani printed at Opificio Della Rosa. Original woodcut by Umberto Giovannini - link
Quick links
1. ‘Los Ultimos’ (Endless Letterpress) - video
2. Music, typography & printmaking - Pinterest board
3. 50 people. 50 days. 50 paid projects - link
4. Filmmaker Gary Hustwit is streaming his documentaries free worldwide during the global COVID crisis - link
Quick links
1. A short documentary film about the memorial artwork created to celebrate the work of Edward Johnston, creator of the typeface used across Transport for London - link.
2. 'Tracing The Spirit' commission 2020 by David Armes / Red Plate Press (UK).
3. Music movable types kept at the Päivälehden museo in Helsinki (found via @musicaltypography) + book about printing in Finland: “Kirjapainotaidon oppikirja” (1923) with a comprehensive section regarding music typesetting - link.
(Vlek19) Aymeric De Tapol – Les Horizons, 2015, letterpress
Capturing the Music of Printmaking
Belgian printmaker David aka Dimitri Runkkari is creating fascinating letterpress printed LP record sleeves by using just brass rules, metal type, pieces of plastic and cork. David is one of the co-founders of Vlek, a music label from Brussels, and he’s the one who is responsible for the whole visual art direction of the label. Although you can listen to their music online they emphasize the importance of producing the physical releases.
"Having a physical object for each of our records acts like a business card – it’s a good way to get people’s attention" explains David. These are mostly limited edition runs, usually 300 copies, designed, letterpress or screen printed by David in-house.