In the jagged landscape that passes for the printing industry, there are many torn fragments that would not normally attract our attention but which contain their own dramatic story.
One such esoteric fragment is the “nature impression”, which I had the privilege of observing in London recently – which first appeared in the early 1800s and enabled the accurate reproduction of leaves and other botanical specimens – without destroying the leaf! (The answer lies in using electrolysis to create a copper replica of the sheet – but that’s another story.)
Fast forward to last week when I visited the Contemporary art fair at Sydney’s iconic Carriageworks.
Allow me to introduce two lovely ladies, Sue Anderson and Gwen Harrison, who do wonderful things with books. But these aren’t the “normal” books you and I think of. These are books that can be nearly (or sometimes more) than a square meter, and with a print run of only a dozen – or less!
These are books where every aspect and element has been painstakingly handcrafted: all types of display have been combined, using wooden blocks; the text, again, has been meticulously combined by Sue using the composer’s typeface, and all the binding has, again, been lovingly designed – in one case, using kangaroo skin covers to house a collection of Gwen’s etchings.
They are works of art in their own right, standing alongside paintings, sculptures and prints. But these are books! And there is a name for this genus: artists’ books. Note the neat placement of the apostrophe. These are not books owned by artists: they are books produced as works of art.
And who are these “artists”? Well, Sue and Gwen are a lively duo, seen here holding one of their works of art – a book whose page size when opened flat easily exceeds one meter in length by half a meter depth. Try printing this on a digital press!
Their modus operandi is a typical artist: no idea of commercial gain – if they sell copies that’s fine, but basically they’re driven by a love of letterpress printing. But someone likes their work, because their creations have been purchased by the British Library, Stanford University in the United States and several other American institutions, as well as several galleries and libraries in Australia.
They draw inspiration from some dark Australian historical themes and have produced “works of art” on subjects as diverse as the famous female factory at Parramatta, the little-known prison on Cockatoo Island (known as Biloela) in the Sydney Harbor and the historic “quarantine” of Sydney. Station”, which played such an important role in early immigration to Australia.
To produce these works, Sue and Gwen may spend months researching and assembling ideas and images, then many more months painstakingly creating the text (Sue) and hand-drawn images (Gwen) before the design process. trial and error printing at all – by hand – begins. Part of the complexity is combining the copperplate engravings with the type – bearing in mind that each color requires a separate print – and it’s all done on a Potter typographic machine that’s nearly 90 years old!
Sometimes there’s the easy way and the hard way, and Sue and Gwen seem determined to choose the latter. But it is the unfettered spirit that drives the true artist. Or is it the craftsman? Sue and Gwen live in this twilight zone where the lines are blurred. All we should care about is that they use the typographic process to produce works of art – and as such we should welcome them as an integral part of the printing industry!
Who said printing was dead?
For more information on Sue and Gwen’s designs, visit neverfixedmark.com.
Or visit their studio in the artist’s compound at Middle Head in Sydney Harbor National Park.