Now in its second year, Publication Fair boasts posters printed by OMFGCO and Container Corps.
The 2010 Publication Fair was held this weekend at the Cleaners at the Ace Hotel in Portland. We were on hand to scope it out and to staff the Pinball Publishing /Scout Books table. I scored some amazing printed works and, in the midst of doing so, spoke with the exhibitors about about their work. This three-part video series highlights those conversations.
Watch the first installment below.
Two titles.
Justin Bland lives in Portland. Here he makes books, small books that straddle the border between art object and publication. His books have been distributed by Café Royal Books, Kaugummi and other notable entities. His work was recently included in the book Fanzines by graphic design historian Teal Triggs, released earlier this year by Thames & Hudson Publishers.
Find his book projects at his website. Also see his flickr stream, where he regularly posts images of his own work and print objects made by others.
These books can keep you warm.
Ultimate book nerds, your time has arrived. You can clad yourself in your bookish pride, thanks to Out of Print.
Out of Print is a clothing company that “celebrates the world’s great stories through fashion.” Their t-shirts and hoodies feature cover artwork from classic literature. Much of their collection features cover artwork that is—no surprise here—out of print. Some styles are direct re-print of vintage book covers, while others feature collaborations with contemporary graphic designers.
You can't read this book.
Art about regular life thrills me. When the mundane is made special by a skilled hand, art becomes accessible and relevant. And art about books? Double good.
Artist Mary Alyssa Block meticulously painted the covers of seventy books onto scrap pieces of wood. That’s it and that’s all. A simple idea executed well.
Sort, stack.
I was at Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA) yesterday and found myself in the recently opened exhibition Sorted Books by Nina Katchadourian.
Sorted Books primarily features photographs of stacks of books, their titles meant to be read sequentially, top to bottom. The results are pithy dadaist poems such as:
Primitive Art /
Just Imagine /
Picasso /
Raised By Wolves
and another:
Relax /
When I Relax I Feel Guilty /
When I Say No, I Feel Guilty /
God Always Says Yes! /
Don’t Say Yes When You Want to Say No
I like the idea of books being corralled into groups for which they were never intended because that’s where they wind up naturally anyway right?, on our bookshelves in random groupings. Now I can’t help but read the titles on my bookshelf sequentially. If I come across any particularly interesting ones I’ll post it in the comments below. What about yours? Any Nina Katchadourianesque sequential titles on your bookshelf?
There’s a book on my shelf that’s been on my mind called Zero Mostel reads a book. My wife Kate was in Austin at Domy Books where shop proprietor Russell recommended it. It was originally a photo-essay in the June of 1963 New York Times. Zero Mostel was an actor and comedian best known (to me anyway) for his role in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. In this hard-bound photo-essay, photographer Robert Frank, known for his outsider’s perspective on the strata of American society, follows Zero with a camera while he reads a random progression of books. A dictionary, a comic book, novels, and an anonymous assortment of thick texts. Reading, he moves around his home from room to room, first on a chair, then on a sofa, then pulling more books from his shelves; he drinks, he smokes. Frank’s camera is all the while capturing Zero’s reaction to what is being read — he cries, laughs, sweats, uses a magnifying glass, is scared, horrified, enraged, makes hammy faces; he emotes.
Now that the iPad and its bretheren have ushered in the new era of fast-moving downloadable screen-reading, Zero Mostel reads a book serves as a reminder of the book-as-object, a singularly contained idea. It’s possible that now there are two genuses of books: screen-based and print-based where print-based have now been re-assigned to the category of the art-object. I don’t know. I do know that I kind of really like reading books on the iPad and liking that bothers me. I also know that I wouldn’t like this book nearly as much if it were instead Zero Mostel Reads an eBook on His Second Generation iPhone.
Summer has arrived in Portland and it’s spectacular weather for bike rides. I took mine out to local shops to see what new publications have hit the shelves recently. This post shares some of what captured my eye and even my imagination…
7 Lbs of Typography
Title: Specimen Book and Catalogue 1923
Publisher: American Type Founders Company
Published:1923
Available: Used…if you’re lucky
Scrambling from my burning house, the smoke billowing around my head, I return one last time to save my...1923 Type Specimen Book and Catalogue from the American Type Founders Company.
Container Corps HQ
Container Corps is powered by Gary Robbins, a print master and publication wonder. Located in a tiny storefront in North Portland, Container Corps has been quietly making moves in the local publishing world, generating new publications and experimental printing projects. When we caught up with Gary to hear his thoughts on starting Container Corps, we had no idea we’d be so moved by his responses. His eloquent, thoughtful explanation of his intentions with his creative publishing project got us jazzed. If entities like Container Corps are the future of print, we’re all going to be okay.
Read below for an interview with Gary. We’re impressed. We think you will be too.
Make a zine in 2010.
Make a zine in 2010. It has been about 13 years since the zine scene was really “happening” nationwide, but the current artistic, cultural, and aesthetic landscape seems to be all about nostalgia and irony.
As a mode of participating in 2010, consider seeking out a typewriter, gluestick, sharpies, and a clip art book, putting on some floral-print Doc Martens and ripping a hole in the knee of your jeans, and then launch into making a zine.
“But now blogs are where I share and absorb knowledge,” you might be thinking. “My MacBook Pro doesn’t really go with my Floral Print Doc Martens.”
If you already write a blog but are interested in doing something different with your writing or your image-compiling abilities, consider making a cheaply producible, zine-style book anthology with visual art to compliment your writing. Or, conversely, if you make a photo blog, get a friend to write pieces to compliment your images. Bring it all to a different audience through turning it into a book.
If you spend a lot more of your time reading blogs than reading books, consider spending some time in the middle ground: zines!
The most direct way to becoming a zine appreciator– or “zinester”– is to make a zine yourself.
Phil Elverum: Print Pioneer of the Pacific Northwe…:
Phil Elverum is best known for his work as the bands Mount Eerie and The Microphones, as well as... 
Field Notes and Fifty States:
Item: Field Notes Colors "County Fair" 50 Editions
Paper: 100# linen cover stock (Blue, Red, Ye... 
Hatch Show Print:
Hatch Show Print is one of the oldest print shops in America. For a hundred years Hatch was a si... 
Carson Ellis, Illustrator Extraordinaire:
It is important to have heroes. It is also helpful when they are real people. I have my share of... 
Stumptown Printers: There are still the occasional cries of "the death of print," but instead, we now think of this time... 
Will the iPad Save Zines?:
I’m buying zines today in an unlikely place: the bus. I've just downloaded the newly released ... Pinball Publishing is a creative publishing company located in Portland, Oregon. We are fueled by a love for print, collaboration, and the manufacture of meaningful things. Pinball powers a growing web of interconnected projects, including Scout Books, Bangback, and Print Pinball.
Bangback is a place for print. Here we share our own print projects as well as expanded coverage of print culture at large.
Print is dead. Long live print!
