The Common Press is the letterpress printing studio at the University of Pennsylvania. It is supported by a collaboration of interests at Penn, including writing (15th Room Press, Kelly Writers House), print culture (the Rare Book & Manuscript Library), and visual arts and design (the School of Design). The Common Press was founded on January 17, 2006, the 300th anniversary of Benjamin Franklin's birth. The Common Press provides a mixed media environment to support the teaching of design and fine arts to students, to encourage collaboration on projects across the university, and to expose students to contemporary print culture
Chymia, a collaborative Common Book designed and printed by Marc Blumthal, Marianne Dages, Matt Neff, Ivanco Talevski, and Tricia Treacy at The Common Press in 2012. A limited set of letterpress prints using original blocks from the Van Pelt-Dietrich Library’s Edgar Fahs Smith Memorial Collection accompanies each edition. Please contact Matthew Neff, mneff@design.upenn.edu if you are interested in purchasing this edition.
letterpress portfolio of original blocks from the collection
Last week was a gathering of print people in philly's favorite print places in honor of SGC2010. Together Greg Pizzoli, from UArts, and Matt Neff, master of The Common Press, put on the Democratic Down N’ Dirty DIY Screen printing BYO-Tshirt event.
On Saturday afternoon, to close the conference, we turned our presses onto print mode and burned a few screens for an Open House! With both Vandercooks running, and four screen-printing stations we made posters (pic below) for you to take home!
HERE ARE SOME OF THE HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE CONFERENCE:
Originally trained as a fine artist and tall-walker in West Philadelphia, Avery Lawrence, the proprietor, has relocated his experimental-production workshop to a used bookstore in Charlottesville, VA.
The Pomp offers an array of design services, in particular screen-printed rolls of paper towels and high quality t-shirts -- the shirts last longer.
WOOD TYPE WOOD BLOCKS WOOD LINKS In light of our recent acquisitions, see images below of both the extremely large quantity of large wood type and wood block patterning (made from old furniture from India) and the engravings of silver pots, cups, teapots, and other such silver things, see this link and you will want to pee yourself.
Heres some information and here's some more if I spark your interest: link. First you should know that the majority of wood type was made by the J. E. Hamilton Type Company. Wood Type became popular in America during the Civil War, when the lead was needed for gunning people down, then Hamilton came into the picture and revamped things a bit. He originally worked in a chair factory. Then he thought: why am I making all these chairs, people are going to get bored of sitting, gotta give 'em something to do while sitting, let's bring reading to the table!!!. Then you know what he did, he switched things up a bit, changed the way woodtype was made. Instead of using Maple, he made the letters of the more cost efficient Hollywood, like a true celebrity, which he then glued to Pine to make them type high.
ALSO:
On First Friday, March 5, from 6 to 8 p.m., the Wharton Esherick Museum will be having an opening: "Wharton Esherick -- Rustic Modernist." This is an exhibition of Esherick woodcut prints, printed by the Common Press. The opening is located with a car at the Phoenix Village Art Center, 207-209 Bridge Street in Phoenixville, PA.
New Asshole is an academic journal that strives for a critical dialogue surrounding the production of DIY art. It publishes writing concerned with the contextualization, theorization, and documentation of contemporary basement aesthetics. Each issue contains essays concerned with the nature of production, the placement of DIY art in the trajectory of history, the relationship with the institutional art space, and the manner in which art is received by the public. In addition to publications, New Asshole creates events such as lectures and panel discussions to further encourage public discourse. (text taken from New Asshole website)
SPRING CLEANING-SPRING CLEANING-SPRING CLEANING-SPRING CLEANING-SPRING CLEANING-SPRING CLEANING-SPRING CLEANING-SPRING CLEANING-SPRING CLEANING-SPRING CLEANING-SPRING CLEANING-SPRING CLEANING-SPRING CLEANING the wheatpaste wall has been reset
Westchester County has never been merely the country escape of ritzy Manhattanites. About an hour north of the fabulous city, the area is a haven for the arts ... where artists can find the space that NYC just can't offer. The Lift Trucks Project (LTP) isa new space located in Croton Falls, NY, converted from a 1920's fork lift repair shop into studios and an exhibition space. Its roster includes the likes ofAlex Katz and Robert Indiana.
Anyway if you find yourself in New York between June 7th and July 12th, check out their new exhibit: FROM A FACTORY FLOOR: Screen Print Collaborations. Screen print collaborations with prints by master screen printer Gary Lichtenstein.
YO YO YO... the COMMONPRESS is now apart of the College & University Letterpress Printers' Association (CULPA) !!
Established in 2006, CULPA is an international group. It's goal is to bring together educators and students in the letterpress community. OMG that's the same goals as us. phew!
Back in the day, 1734,Mr. Al-Shamas Abdullah Zakher founded the first Arabic printing press. Located in Lebanon this little press ran happily until 1899. It was the fist Arabic script printing press in Lebanon. To learn more about this little guy and see some awesome pictures click here.
In that limbo between finals and the end of classes, impulsive acts of exploration, due to the lack of scheduling, and kittens become common. It's not like we are on vacation, there is still a lot of work to do, but summer is setting in, and those who ventured down to the basement of morgan yesterday found themselves witness to the unveiling of truth and machinery, the railroads didn't build themselves you know?
So we tried it out, our newest family member: the offset baby, a multilith 1250. Like heros and vultures, the machine was set into motion. oh how monumental? how magnificent? paper trays and paper trails! 11 rollers parched for life, given breath! Macedonian fervor and daily sweater vests! This is Common Press. Now truth be told, though we are incredibly grateful to southern men named Bud, and we couldn't have been any wiser, we didn't get quite get anything printed BUT THIS IS HOW IT WILL RUN:
Please join us on Sunday!
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Hey guys,
Sorry it's been long. Just wanted to let you know that the Screenprinting and Relief Class are having a show this coming Sunday, May 3rd @4 pm. Please come! Schmooze a little!
Once again the ICA has kindly invited the Common Press to help host the ICA PENN First Wednesday March 4th, 2009 (TODAY)!
7:30pm / Meet the artist: Joshua Mosley 8:30pm / Customize your very own RADical art totes with 4 unique silkscreen designs by local artists (and even a design by Common Press members Sofie and Manya).
As always, free coffee and dessert plus enter a raffle to win a free iPod.
