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As I am sure many of the print makers out there are aware Print Zero studios runs a very large print exchange. I participated in it this year, the only requirement was that the paper size be 5x7. I just received the prints from this exchange, unfortunately the hand writing is not always easy to read on them, so I opted to not butcher their names horribly. According to the card they sent with the prints 291 print makers from 17 different countries participated this year, and the prints are also part of touring show. The dates and locations are as follows:
Unless you work for the theater group Sesame Street Live or have worked at a concert hall where they have performed you will never see this side of it, backstage. The Big Bird costume is the most complicated one that they have, so when it is not in use they hang him. Hanging it also makes it easier for dancer to get it on and off as it just has to be lowered or raised. Between Big Bird scenes in the show you will often see the top part of the costume hanging like this, but with the addition of a sweaty hyperventilating dancer sitting underneath it wearing Big Bird pants.
Prior to New York and abstract expressionism, the hot bed of the art world was in Germany in its own expressionism. There were a few different groups going on at this point in time, die Brucke, die blaue Reiter, and Bauhaus ( actually more based on Dadaism). The members of die Brucke through experimentation made several breakthroughs in printmaking technique. Emil Nolde was one of those members. He made lithographs, woodcuts, and is perhaps better known for his paintings, but by far his intaglio prints are what stand out. Out of the entire die Brucke group he was the only one with prior experience in intaglio, and he kept his secrets to himself. It is known though that starting in around 1907 he switched from using copper plates to iron. Reputedly because he liked the shine of the iron plates.
Alright, well decided to try bookbinding. This is my first book I made it under the guidance of Aldren A. Watson's Bookbinding: A Manual of Instruction. He's a stickler, but his writing style and instructions are very concise. The paper used is all paper that I made last semester. The gray paper is made out of lint processed in a blender, the other is cotton rag with some silk thrown in. I kind of like the lint paper its got all kinds crap in it from hair to bits of yarn.
Just playing around with color layering on this one, this is done with one plate (errr... two, top and bottom). I would like to do some more runs on it and am still considering trying it, but my paper was getting ripped apart. I ended up cutting the printed areas out and chine coleing them onto a different support. I learned some stuff on this one. Hopefully the Print Zero people won't mind if it's a little rough around the edges.
St. Brigid of Ireland is the patron saint of printing presses, I am not quite sure why, it really didn't seem to fit into her story at all.
