Box Set

Wide Margins: An Exhibition of 'Zines and Self-Published Works from the Sublime to the Silly is currently on view at the WNY Book Arts Center. It runs from July 16-September 3, 2010 & includes hundreds of home-made, self-published works of literary and graphical self-expression. Zines were the blogs before the internet. They were made with typewriters, glue, scissors, tape, copy machines, old computers, press type, pencils, paper, markers, photos, stats, stickers and often staples.

Both my 1990-era pubs -- the Sign O' The Times (SOTT) and Slack Magazine, done by Wizard Graphics-- are highlighted in a glass display case. Thanks to WNYBA's Amy & Jessica for curating this super show. This is really a fine collection of hanging, stacked and piles & piles of literally a shit load of publications. Make sure you get down before Sept. 3 to check this show out- it is very cool!

I missed the opening reception as I was out of town, but I biked down the Saturday afternoon to check it out. I was pretty psyched to see the show. I took these snapshots -- heavy on the Wizard Graphics case -- for your viewing pleasure.

HELPFUL LINKS-
Facebook page- click. BuffaloSnooze preview- click. WNY Book Arts page- click. Slack Magazine online website.



The full Slack & SOTT case. Click on this image collage for big view....very nice. This display includes tee, Slacker in Space original comic art in stat & negative form, a poster, business card, watch, rubber stamp and original issues of SOTT and Slack Magazine.


Side view of full SOTT- Slack case- protected under glass!



Edits to Issue #1 of SOTT includes hand notes on laserprint proof.



Poster for Slack fundraiser at 3rd Room & one-of-a-kind original SLACK watch.


Various SLACK Magazines with Slack in Space comic by Don Keller.



SOTTs from 1991.



Zine case 01- colorful, fancy zines.


Zine case 2- very professional looking zine-age.


Hanging row of the great Duplex Planet zines.



More colorful Duplex Planets.



Hanging zines and tools (electric typewriter & 'pre-zine' print press).



Beer Frame- a classic from back in the day.


Artbabe!!



Stacks-o-Zines.



Event posters in WNYBAC window on the corner of Mohawk & Washington, Downtown Buffalo, NY.



Saturday morning, post opening party clean up.


BONUS BEATS- WNYBAC is a great addition to the Queen City -- they have been around for one year now. Please support this non-for-profit if you are a fan of the printed arts-- especially the antique hand-made, letter-pressed versions of book and all things printed. Become a member!

O My Soul

The family spent the afternoon printing. This morning we went to the Western New York Book Arts to learn about printing with wood type, the way they did it hundreds of years ago. Today's hands-on class was to combine wooden block type letterforms into animal shapes. See some photos from our experience below.

This was a fantastic experience. It started with picking letterforms, setting them up in a galley, using wood 'furniture' to lock it all in, and then printing using equipment from the 1880's. The girls came up with some nice designs which I will pick up in a few days after they dry.

Designing with your hands really made you feel like an ancient craftsman. The smell of the ink, the rolling of the hand-press and the results made for a great time. It doesn't get an 'real' that graphic-designing by hand with woodtype. Good for the soul.



Some of the wooden type we used to print with in a variety of styles, typefaces and sizes.


Our host Rich Kegler showing some past work for inspiration.


Leftovers from a previous print job.


Young designer looking for type specimens to start with.


The young designers designing with woodtype, setting up on their trays.


Rich inking some letters for a proof.


Some wood block type all 'purpled' up with ink.


Young designer peaking through window in basement of Book Arts.

Brand New Cadillac

Last Minute Panic Holiday Marketplace- the revenge!

Panic! Revenge!

Sounds good?

Friday Dec 11, 4-8 pm &

Saturday Dec 12 12-6 pm.

Once again, we will be selling our Where To Roam tees, hoodies and scarves at the Western New York Book Arts Center's Last Minute Gift Buying Panic Marketplace. Buffalo artists, crafters, bookmakers, printers and graphic artists will be there. Come on down, it was very cool last

year. This appears to be the final run of these particular W2R Tees- so get 'em while you can before we run out! Collect them all! Trade with your friends!!

The event is being promoted with this super great hand printed poster designed and printed by P22 (& WNYBAC's) Rich Kegler. The poster is red and blue ink on an awesome silver card stock. I captured some details below (click for VERY large views). I am not sure if it was worth the $30 parking ticket I scored today? Go Buffalo!

The event will be at the main gallery, 1st floor of the Western New York Book Arts Center 468 Washington St at Mohawk in Downtown Buffalo on Friday Dec 11, 4-8pm and Saturday Dec 12 12-6pm. Free admission and open to the public- come for Friday Happy Hour or Saturday afternoon shopping. Perfect gifts for giving or hoarding. Hot item for this year? The W2R scarf- get it!

This year's Vendors include:

• Elizabeth Leader

• Crowbiz

• Hero Design Studio

• Donald Trainor/ Shiny Object Media

• Where to Roam (Us, yeah!!!!)

• Amy Greenan

• Rene Hoover

• SunnyOutside Press

• WNY Book Arts Center Shop and More!

Cool Poster Details: Click for larger view!

The Mix- the overlapping letterpressed blue and red make purple (kinda)....

Some cool detail art from the right hand strip of objects, knick-knacks and other graphical nuggets.

Windings, eat your heart out! Nice gourds, Gord.

Panic on the street of Buffalo! ha ha! Smiths! Ha!

Love You To

Event Alert:
Thursday, May 21, 2009, from 6-9pm
The Western NY Book Arts Center Grand Opening
468 Washington St (at Mohawk)
Buffalo NY 14203

When I first set foot in The Western NY Book Arts Center last year I was enlisted to help carry trays of metal type from one side of the room to another. Located in the former Slotkin Department Store in downtown Buffalo, the place was dusty, crumbly and had seen better day. I was helping font-maker Rich Kegler move cabinets, tables, and ancient printing equipment so he could paint the floor. He had a vision of a future that would include the past. He thought people could still appreciated old school letterpress printing and he was correct. This Thursday, the space is officially reborn as the Grand Opening of the The Western NY Book Arts Center is finally arrived with a member's show. Rockin'

This Thursday, May 21, 2009, from 6-9pm the Center is open to all, as font-meister Rich Kegler's vision becomes a reality. Come on down to the opening and see the space transformed with a gallery, bookshop, event space, working print studio, reading library, printing museum & more. The opening will feature music, drink, food, art and artists- everything you need for a good time.

Located at 468 Washington Street, on the corner of Washington and Mohawk- the next block over from the Mohawk Place- this opening is a sneak peak of the future of the WNYBAC. The following day, Friday May 22nd, the center be officially open with regular hours from 12-6 pm, on Wed-Sat. In addition, the bookshop will be open and will offer book making supplies, art papers, books, stationary, and fine art.

The Grand Opening of WNYBAC kicks off with this first members' exhibition. There has been quite a few other events going on there over the last year including several during last year's Typecon- but this is the official 'opening.' This event will feature established and emerging artists, craftspeople and self-published authors, such as Jozef Bajus, Gerald Mead and Diane Bond. I am lucky to be included, as I have a piece in the show that has been hanging in my living room for the last 9 years. It is a mix of acrylic, press type, graphite and glaze. The painting titled "Four Letter Words," was from a period where I was experiment with powdered graphite, paint and hand-kerning presstype. They used to teach typesetting theory by using press type to set headlines back in pre-computer design school. I thought by reviving this painting, maybe I can get some inspiration to paint again- which has been lost from my life for several years now. I think it is time to get it back into action.

I am excited to go down and see the show and I am extra excited to have some art in this show. Come on down & check it out. It is good to have a another art gallery in town and you'll get a chance to see old school print equipment from back in the day when printers were craftsmen and much time was spent setting character after character, setting the letters, words and spaces in a book by hand.

Hope to see you there. Don't let your kids touch the lead.

For more information on the event:
www.wnybookarts.org
info@wnybookarts.org
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=147304730227

Free Way

Special DJ Alert!

Spain's POETS IN PROCESS

with DJ Dr. Wisz of deja blu

Sunday, March 15, 2009 @ 8:00pm

Mohawk Place

47 E Mohawk St.

Buffalo, NY

This Sunday, March 15th, I am DJing as the warm up for this indie rock band from Barcelona, Spain called Poets in Process. I think they are flying in to the good ol' USA to play the Canadian Music Week and then the famed SXSW (according to the Mohawk Place weekly email calendar). Luckily Buffalo falls in between those two concert stops. Buffalo has always had the 'quick extra concert stop between concerts on the East Coast thing going for it'... TO, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, NYC... It has been this way for ages, every since bands of any sort-- even big bands, back in the day-- they always stopped in Buffalo when touring the East Coast.

Here is what they sound like: MySpace page Poet In Process and their own site
My favorite song so far is A New Poet in Progess, #5 on the MySpace list.

Rich from P22 and The Western New York Book Arts printed the seventy-four awesome letterpress posters (in the photo above). Each one is unique. Letterpress-- which might undergo the popularity rise the silk screen rock posters had over the past 8-10 years-- is hand setting metal letters, inking blankets and printing the old fashioned way. It is the ANALOG of the print world really.

I think he said this square poster is 6 colors and the starburst is made with strips of lead. Don't forget all the characters are individually handset letters- time comsuming. Awesome skill, very cool. And to see my DJ moniker set in 72 pt Futura Bold metal. Extra cool.

Should be a blast, it's only $5, and it's an early night... you could be home by 11:00-12:00 or so.... you should all come on out!

Here is some more info cribbed from the Mohawk email (for those of you who don't receive it, you should), thanks Marty:

Spain’s Poet in Process, virtually unknown on this side of the Atlantic, are, in the words of their publicist, by way of their translator, a gem to discover, a truthful "nugget". Their compositions, attitude and presence on stage make of them the future of the pop rock scene. The combination of shrilled and ripped guitars with the delicacy and softness of the melodies, invites the voice to create captivating and violent melodies surrounded by a tender and whispering cadence. 


After five years working and performing in a great number of venues and festivals, they have had the opportunity to support bands such as Stereophonics, OK GO, Albert Hammond Jr., Muse and Take That. The song “Why”, from their first LP Free Way has been included in the Guillermo del Toro's film Hellboy II, and several of their songs were featured in the soundtrack of the Spanish soap opera Cuestion de sexo. Four of their songs have been chosen to be playing on the website of the famous Spanish Chef Sergi Arola (www.sergiarola.es ).

Between appearances at Canadian Music Week and SXSW, the band is stopping off in Buffalo, with assistance from P22 fontmeister and The Western New York Book Arts's Rich Kegler.