Greetings & Inquiries

[corruptviridian.livejournal.com]

Hi, friendly denizens of Davis Square. I'm looking for help from the vast powers of the internet.

I'm moving up north in a couple of weeks. Right now I'm in the depths of the South, working on my MFA in book arts (The short version of the bio - I'm a former used bookseller and art teacher, was an art history major, moved from Chicago to New Orleans, and then got some weird idea that going to grad school was a good idea), and I've got two questions.

First, does anybody know of letterpress printers in the area who might trade studio-assistant work for time on their presses? I don't know how to use a C&P flywheel, but I'm good with the Vandercook proof press and the iron handpress (I've done most of my work on a Washington press).

Second, my thesis involves a kind of ... performance/installation thing, with a thousand paper cranes and ritual burning thereof after a certain amount of display time. I can do this down south, but I'd rather do it in a more, for lack of a better term, punkrockart-friendly place. My ideal space would be somewhere post-industrial, and I'd like to have music and suchlike (assuming I can find bands or a DJ or... right, and I can't actually spend money, since I don't have any). It isn't something that lends itself to the quiet, sedate sort of art gallery opening, and also I have some doubt that there are traditional galleries willing to have fire as part of an installation, even smallish and well-controlled ones. If anyone out there has some idea of a place for this kind of thing, or people to contact, I'd really appreciate some leads. The only problem is that it needs to happen soon - I'm aiming for doing my defense in October, and I've got to have all the documentation done for that.

There's some of my work online - reject sheep press & forget gutenberg - if anyone's interested (n.b. the website is very much a rough draft, and the thesis page even more so than the rest of it).

Edit for clarification: Ok, given the risk of fire getting out of control, the burning is something I'd do in as contained a manner as possible. It's not like they actually have to be up while they burn. It is kind of a thought I've had, to send them out on the river, but ... well, I'm not sure how that would go over with the various relevant governmental bodies either. (It's all handmade paper, cotton and linen, pretty much acid-free, although I don't know how damaging the dye would be at this point; all the color is from whatever the rag was dyed with, and it was pretty old rag mostly. I'm not terribly concerned about the ecological impact aside from that, though, 'cause it's all going degrade very fast indeed.)

Comments

[amethystmoon.livejournal.com]

Manifesto Press in Easthampton, MA does exclusively typesetting work, but they do it exclusively commercially ot my knowledge. Though it's a small company, so they may be willing to work somethign out, or at least give suggestions.

Your crane thing... sounds like an odd combination of my BFA thesis and what a bunch of us did for my best friend's mother when she was dying of/died of cancer.

My thesis was a photo/audio recording/performance installation thing (trying to find a space out here to show it again).

My friend's mother, Donna, when she was diagnosed with cancer, someone mentioned a Japanese legend that if you fold a prayer into a thousand paper cranes, your wish will be granted. By the time Donna died months later, friends and family had folded over two thousand cranes. Mostly, it was something for people to do with their hands when we ran out of helping with cooking and cleaning, and we all just needed to feel useful. Some got strung, and various family members still have strings decorating their houses, but there were too many. So, a little while after she died, the family invited everyone close to her over for a sort of memorial gathering, which concluded with each person in turn taking a crane (or a handful), saying something about Donna, and throwing the cranes into a bonfire. When everyone was done saying things, the remainder also got put in the fire.

[amethystmoon.livejournal.com]

PS - I'm sure you can find a band or DJ to help out for free. My performers and interview subjects were all friends.

[amethystmoon.livejournal.com]

PPS - try boston.craigslist.org to find musicians, if the various Boston LJ communities don't cut it

[corruptviridian.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm kind of working off that legend, although I'm not quite crazy enough to fold all of the cranes myself. Folding cranes is an excellent fidget, and it sounds like it was a really good thing to do.

Photo/audio/performace sounds like a lot of fun for a thesis.

And thanks for the heads up on Manifesto Press.