Book Studio

The Book Studio is hitching up its sleeves to participate in the ANU School of Art’s Open Day.

After a whole term of student letterpress printing (yes, it will be blogged about, when the TO can remember to bring the photos in from home), there is a lot of work to show off, and, along with the rest of the Printmedia & Drawing Workshop, there will be things to do and buy. Here’s our concept:

People will get the chance to set their own names, select from a variety of heinous crimes, and watch it be printed off by our small but keen posse of volunteer student printers. Then they can take their print home, damply smelling of printer’s ink.

Other keen PM&D students will be running the sausage (and lentil burger) stall, selling printed t-shirts and prints, and making badges. All monies raised offset the graduation costs for our finishing students. There will also be demonstrations throughout the day of a variety of printing techniques, and PM&D students are also performing throughout the day.

Other workshops have organised activities as well, so it is a day of endlessly entertaining things to do and see.

Open Day is Saturday 25 August, from 9 to 4. If you’re local, or interested in going to our art school to study, we hope to see you at the ANU School of Art, Childers Street, Australian National University.

PS Check out this wonderful letterpress link!

Bernie Slater, last year’s Graduate Resident in the Book Studio, and Julian Laffan, who will be the Book Studio Grad Resident next semester, have work in the latest exhibition at the ANU School of Art Gallery, Thresholds of Tolerance. They are part of a collective called Culture Kitchen, incorporating Australian, East Timorese and Indonesian artists, raising awareness of human rights issues in the Australasian region. The series of images, printed onto large (and portable!) white sheets using various techniques such as woodblock, screenprinting and stencil spraying, are titled We Refuse to be Victims.

They have just been profiled on triplej, and you may catch them talking on the radio over the next few days. If you are in Canberra it is worth a trip to the gallery to see the real thing and to see the video footage the Australian team shot whilst travelling through the region. The exhibition is on until 5 June 2007.

Here is a round-up of Book Studio-connected exhibitions:

The touring exhibition of the Studio’s previous incarnation, the Edition + Artist Book Studio, has opened in Melbourne at the State Library of Victoria. ‘How I entered there I cannot truly say’: Collaborative Works from the ANU Edition + Artist Book Studio is running until 17 June 2007 in the SLV’s Keith Murdoch Gallery. The opening day was celebrated with a full day of talks and panels on the various natures of the Artist Book, featuring artists like Peter Lyssiotis, Gracia + Louise, Carolyn Fraser and George Matoulis. Sacha Grishin gave the keynote speech: ‘Both a picture and a thousand words: Contemporary Artist Books’.

There are ongoing activities associated with the exhibition, including a children’s workshop and an advanced printing workshop at the Australian Print Workshop with Dianne Fogwell. You can explore all the options and also listen to a downloadable audio tour for the exhibition at the SLV’s website.

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Dianne Fogwell, the curator of the E+ABS touring exhibition, is travelling to Korea to exhibit at the 2007 Seongnam International Book Arts Fair (S.I.S.F.). According to their blurb, the Seongnam International Book Arts Fair opens to celebrate the first anniversary of the Book Theme Park under the auspices of Seongnam Cultural Center, Saturday April 21, 2007 to Monday April 30, 2007 at the Yeul-dong park in Book Theme Park.
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Patsy Payne, the Head of the Printmedia & Drawing Workshop and current lecturer-in-charge of the Book Studio, is exhibiting in Sydney until 31 March. The show, Mountain Building, is at the Brenda May Gallery, 2 Danks Street, Waterloo, open 11-6, Tues-Sat.

The Book Studio is presenting a workshop in conjunction with the Australian National Gallery’s 6th Australian Print Symposium, titled From Print to Book.

This will be a short workshop exploring various methods of converting prints to book structures. This is a wonderful way to transform proofs and misprints, or to develop a distinct body of work within your print practice. Participants are welcome to bring their own prints, or can work with blank paper (provided) to create maquettes for later reference.

Date: Sunday 1 April 2007, 1.30-4.30pm

Venue: Book Studio, Printmedia & Drawing Workshop, ANU School of Art, Canberra
Cost: $40

Teacher: Caren Florance

To date there are still places available (max. 15 participants) and you can book a place by emailing Caren at eabs[at]anu.edu.au or leaving a message at the Book Studo on 02 6125 5812. Payment can be made on the day by cash, cheque or credit card.

Ron McBurnie, Townsville printmaker and book artist, has an exhibition opening soon at the Impressions on Paper Gallery in Braddon. Ron is a regular Printmedia visiting artist. The exhibition, called Chasing Palmer: etchings influenced by Samual Palmer, runs from 28 Sept to 22 Oct 2006, with the opening at 5.30 on Friday 29 September.

If you’re interested in more of Ron’s work, he has a website and an infrequent but interesting blog.

The ANU School of Art is having an Open Day on this Saturday, August 26 from 9am to 4pm, along with the rest of the university.

The Book Studio, upstairs in the Printmedia & Drawing Workshop, will be open and operational, and there will numerous activities throughout the Workshop itself, including demonstrations of various print techniques, a print sale, t-shirt sale, plate-drawing stall and a sausage sizzle.

The Book Studio has been printing cloth serviettes to add to the sausage sizzle, cut from white cotton drill and printed with letterpress ink (which, from long experience, does not wash out!). Here are a few samples:

We’ve also printed a few items of clothing, just for fun.

Open Day is a fantastic way to see the School of Art in operation. There are activities happening in all workshops: Printmedia, Photomedia, Painting, Ceramics, Glass, Textiles, Furniture, Gold & Silversmithing, and Sculpture. There is also the judging of the annual Student Drawing Prize in the Gallery, as well as many opportunities to buy or win artworks.

If you’re in the Canberra region, this is a great way to spend your Saturday, no matter the weather.

Dr Danie Mellor, former staff member of the Edition + Artist Book Studio, has an exhibition opening at the Canberra Museum and Gallery from 6 August to 22 October: Voyages of Recovery or An Ongoing Catalogue with Moments of Reason from the Cabinet.

The opening is on Friday 4 August at 6pm 5.30pm. (apologies for not reading the card properly!)
Image: True Blue and White, 2005, mixed media.