Surface Mining

“I think there is no innocent landscape, that doesn’t exist.”

from Anselm Kiefer’s Relics of Violence

It’s already been two months since my return from Cill Rialaig, the artist retreat on the Iveragh Peninsula of County Kerry Ireland.

I went with artist, Catherine Richardson, to collaborate on Materiality, Re_Mined, a project we initiated in response to the call for action proposed in Extraction: Art on the Edge of the Abyss. The event slated for 2021, envisions worldwide participation and simultaneous showing of artists from around the world concerned about how “We are recklessly modifying every feature of the planet surfaces.”

We mostly worked independently guided by our own inspirations and impressions of the place except when we took field trips to mines and quarries in the area.

In those two months since my return, I have been working with some of the materials of Cill Rialaig that I discovered—as it was an unfamiliar source place with its own unique aura seeped in a difficult history with remains and remnants of a time.

My hope was to extract from what was there. What were those materials of this place that spoke to me?

With a predilection toward stones and wind worn landscapes, I was at home surrounded by stones & rocks—the cottages, boundary walls, ruins, standing stones. A spectacularly beautiful place with memories in these stones—trace fossils that marked a past.

If the stones could talk, what would they say?

No words but textures to touch and feel. In preparation for this residency, I extracted pages from mining books. Here I found a place to use them by backing them with wheat paste and using the rock shapes from the wall to mold them. The stone wall shaped the pages and held the art.

Trying to keep warm in a cold place:

At Cill Rialaig, a prefamine village with 19th century ambiance, I was far from the world I knew without the distractions of the 21st century—internet, iPhone, daily news.
Instead I was preoccupied with keeping warm. No central heating, no insulation and cold stone walls & a slate ceiling. The turf eater (an Irish term for the wood stove) became my focus as it consumed the peat, the fuel used here. Discovering that peat was so fast burning, I found that the stove required vigilant attending to ensure uninterrupted warmth.

I went through many bags of peat and accumulated many pails of ash. So it became a material to experiment with in its various forms of brick, charcoal, ash and ink.




Prototype #1

Little online presence recently as I have been involved with three others on a project at North Bay Letterpress Arts which we have called Prototype. Prototype #1 is a new _____________________. We are leaving it blank because it is still unclear to us what it is and what will come. So

Here beginneth:

Some Kind of Information. About the nature of Titles. Inspired by a poet who introduced a poem with two titles, then another with three and another without. Prototype #1 reflects our conversations and explorations about titles—-what they are, and what they are not. Of course we started by first consulting the dictionary for its definition:

NOUN

  1. The name of a book, composition, or other artistic work

  2. A name that describes someone’s position or job

  3. The position of being the champion of a major sports competition

  4. A right or claim to the ownership of property or to a rank or throne

  5. (in church use) a fixed sphere of work and source of income as a condition or ordination

VERB

1. give a name to (a book, composition, or other work)

ORIGIN

Old Englishtitul, reinforced by Old Frenchtitle, both from Latintitulus’ inscription, title’. The word originally denoted a placard or inscription placed on an object, giving information about it, hence a descriptive heading in a book or other composition.

Four folds and 24 folds ago. Now prepared to assemble.

Four folds and 24 folds to go to create just the structure (the spine and cover) for prototype. Image above are the printed parts of the spine for 100 prototypes.

Four folds and 24 folds to go to create just the structure (the spine and cover) for prototype. Image above are the printed parts of the spine for 100 prototypes.

Still under construction due to be launched at *NBLA’s Second Annual Fundraiser on Sunday, October 6th.

We have printed and currently are binding an edition of 100. Pricing still under discussion as we are trying to decide how to price it— by its folds, its page number, print runs, and…..

All proceeds will benefit North Bay Letterpress Arts. More to come upon its completion.

*One more note:

You’re invited to our Second Annual Fundraiser!

Please join us at Hopmonk Tavern for our Second Annual Fundraiser on October 6th! A celebration of printmaking, book arts, education and community. Tickets are available by contacting NBLA

Sunday, October 6, 2019
Lunch: 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM at HopMonk
Reception: 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM at Iota Printshop

HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSE

I continue to work at this press on Thursdays, making artist books and broadsides under the
imprint of ath’wart press. Each year I reflect on how fortunate I am to have discovered this
place and the printers who work here. Come by on Sunday and help us celebrate all that is offered!

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Holiday Open House

Sunday, December 9th
1:00 PM - 4:00 PM

Free! Donations encouraged.

North Bay Letterpress Arts
925d Gravenstein Hwy SO
Sebastopol, CA 95472

Join us at the print shop for our annual open house! Festivities include: handmade
books and cards, printed artwork, food & drink, delightful conversations, shop tours,
and printing demos. See you there!