Fairs I’ve been part of so far

 

Turn The Page 2013, Norwich (UK)

Turn The Page 2013, Norwich (UK)

For the time being I am stuck in the middle of the process of relocating. As a first step I have moved away from my studio to live in Westfalia, and find myself now separated from my workplace for an indefinite period of time. This seems to be the perfect moment to look back and recall how things have evolved. This particular post is all about the fairs I have been part of so far. It is not about all the fairs I’ve been to, as you can  imagine, but about many of them. You might find it somewhat odd that from 2012 onwards I have not attended as much fairs as before. This is nothing to do with the respective fairs. This is for the simple reason of a lack of time due to the relocating process waving its flag from afar at me for quite a while already.

 

Turn The Page in Norwich (UK)

Turn The Page 2013, Norwich (UK)

Turn The Page 2013, Norwich (UK)

In 2014 and 2013 I had been admitted to exhibit at Turn The Page artists‘ book fair in Norwich. The fair is held in the glass roofed entrance hall of The Forum each year in early May. The impressive building also houses the public library, the Tourist Information, a café, and on the upper floor an Italian restaurant, plus the rooms of the BBC. It is a vibrant meeting point right in the city’s centre. Just across the street is the Market with its colourful stalls offering almost everything from baked potatoes to second hand clothing. To the left and across the street there is the old Guild Hall. It is a fascinating piece of flush work craftsmanship and houses a Caley’s Cocoa Café. It is the country’s largest civic medieval building outside London. The Forum, on the contrary, has been built on the turn from the 20th to the 21st century, on the site where the old library had burnt down in 1994. The entrance hall is a wonderful venue for this book fair. Each year a jury admitts some 35 artists to showcase their work. Exhibitors might come from as far as the US. There is a blogpost here to be found in the „Fairs and Markets“ category telling what the 2013 fair was like.

 

Norddeutsche Handpressenmesse in Hamburg

Norddeutsche Handpressenmesse 2013, Hamburg

Norddeutsche Handpressenmesse 2013, Hamburg

So far I have been part of the artist’s book fair in Hamburg three times, in 2009, 2011 and 2013. The fair used to be biennial but in 2013 changed into an annual event. Exhibitors are admitted by lot – so participating is a question of good luck. But with the fair now being every year many more book artists will be able to consider themselves lucky over the years. The „Norddeutsche Handpressenmesse“ is housed in what is called the „Museum der Arbeit“. The impressive old red brick building was turned into a museum several years ago. It houses a rich collection of printing presses, metal type and equipment for type casting.  All of which is shown working by passionate and thouroughly trained volunteers to the visitors during fair times.  For this fair, too, you’ll find a separate blogpost from 2013 in the „Fairs and Markets“ category.

 

Leipzig Book Fair

Leipzig Book Fair 2008

Leipzig Book Fair 2008

Leipzig has a long bookish tradition. For centuries it was home to book fairs. And nowadays with each book fair there is a more than rich programme of readings and performances in all sorts of venues throughout the city and its outskirts.  In 2008 I went there as a first time exhibitor. I presented my then new book: „Das Nusszweiglein“, a fairy tale by Ludwig Bechstein. Another new artwork I put on show there was the scriptural series „Soil Letters“. This series was inspired by Chinese calligraphy. I had taken up lessons with a Chinese teacher some time before and working with the brush in this specific way just mesmerised me. I had printed a broad side using Matthias Claudius‘ poem „Song of War“. After completing the print I went over it with the brush and dye prepared from soil pigments, to give it the shades of earth and blood that go with the text. Alongside grew the idea of having the series of „Soil Letters“.

I went to Leipzig Bookfair for a second time in 2014, presenting my new book „52 Weeks“. It is a collaboration with Australian artist Marianne Midelburg and my first artist’s book using photos. For both, the book „52 Weeks“ and Leipzig Book Fair you can find specific posts on this blog in the „Photobooks“ and the „Fairs and Markets“ category respectively, and you’ll also find a 2014 post on „Marktplatz Druckgrafik“ the young venue for printmaking artists within Leipzig Book Fair.

 

Mainzer Minipressenmesse (International Fair for Small Presses and Publishers, Mainz)

Minipressenmesse 2011, Mainz

Minipressenmesse 2011, Mainz

The first artist’s book I ever made was „Little Niak“ (Der Kleine Niak). It was out in 2001, just in time to be presented at Mainzer Minipressenmesse. This international fair for small presses in Gutenberg’s hometown Mainz is a very special event. It has a long tradition. It is held every other year (the odd numbers) and until 2011 the venue was housed in two large tents right next to the banks of river Rhine. In 2013 the organizers gave the schedule a slight brush-over. The event is now a few weeks later, in June, plus it moved from the tents into Rheingold Hall, which is only a few yards further into town. The tents are being sadly missed by some exhibitors for their make-shift character, which certainly was special. However, there have been years when there was a serious risk of flooding from the nearby river. And there have been severe thunderstorms which have not been very pleasant to sit out in just a tent, even a big one. So with the fair being indoors now both, exhibitors and visitors can get their heads down on the books and prints and publications without keeping one eye glued to the floor in case water comes rushing in.
I have been showcasing my work here on quite a regular basis until 2011.

 

Druck & Buch, Erlangen (Print & Book, Erlangen)

Druck & Buch 2009, Erlangen

erlangen-poetenfest

Every year in late August Erlangen invites people who love reading to come to their traditional „Poets‘ Festival“ (Poetenfest).  The event comes with a rich programme of readings and performances. It is considered to give the opportunity for something like a „sneak pre-listen“ to some of the new and upcoming titles in autumn. One of the venues for the readings is the huge castle right in the city centre. The photo above shows the castle’s front facing the park which, too, is a venue for readings, with people sitting under the large trrees outdoors. During the final weekend of the Poets‘ Festival the entrance hall of the castle houses a fair for artist’s books called „Print & Book“ (Druck & Buch). As it is not a big space only some 24 exhibitors will be able to show their works. I have been part of this event from 2009 to 2012.

 

Künstlerbuchmesse Klaffenbach (Artists‘ Book Fair in Klaffenbach)

Artist's Book Fair at Castle Klaffenbach 2010, Chemnitz

Künstlerbuchmesse auf Schloß Klaffenbach 2010, Chemnitz

Just outside the city of Chemnitz there is a beautiful moarted castle. Castle Klaffenbach houses an artists‘ book fair. The old castle is a very nice venue with a lot of carefully restored, charming rooms where books and prints can be shown to the visitors in a very special atmosphere. With each fair there is an award given to one artist chosen by a jury, the Von-Taube award. I have been at Klaffenbach in 2010 and 2012.

 

Frankfurt Book Fair

Frankfurt Book Fair 2010

Frankfurt Book Fair 2010

Frankfurt Book Fair used to have the „Place of Book Art“ (Platz der Buchkunst) for a period of 10 years, but sadly gave up on doing so just the very year I went there as an exhibitor. This was back in 2010. I was presenting my brand new artist’s book on Kurt Tucholsky there. Tucholsky had taken his own life exactly 75 years earlier, in 1935. You can find more on this artist’s book in a 2013 blogpost in the „Miscellaneous“ category, when there was an article on this book in „Matrix 32“.

 

Frauenfelder Buch- und Handpressenmesse, CH (Frauenfeld Book and Fine Press Fair, CH)

Frauenfeld Fine Press Book Fair 2008, Switzerland

Frauenfelder Handpressenmesse 2008, Switzerland

Frauenfeld Fine Press Book Fair 2008, Switzerland

Frauenfelder Handpressenmesse 2008, Switzerland

In autumn 2008 I went to the book fair in Frauenfeld, Switzerland. This, too, is a biennial fair (in the even numbered years) organized by Atelier Bodoni. The town of Frauenfeld is not far from the German-Swiss border. The fair is called Frauenfeld Book and Fine Press Fair (Frauenfelder Buch- und Handpressenmesse). It is in quite a special venue: an old ironworks with a very specific flair. This was my first ever fair abroad.

In late October I shall be exhibiting at the Fine Press Book Fair in Oxford. In 2011 I had been a visitor there.  Save the date – it is very much worth while going there. And if you can spare a few days more, stay on and pay a visit to the city’s many treasures, such as the Bodleian Library.

Fine Press Book Fair 2011, Oxford (UK)

Fine Press Book Fair 2011, Oxford (UK)

OxfordFinePressBookFair2015-q

 

 

 

 

My Workplace 2004-2015

 

Korrex Hannover

Korrex Hannover

The place where I have been working all those past eleven years is currently in a sleeper mode. It sits in waiting for me to come and get all the presses, the type racks and type, the paper stock, the bookbinding presses, tables, tools, ink tins, brushes, jars of pigments and all the odds & ends that make up a book artist’s workplace. I’ve got to be patient. We need to find a new place to fit everything in fit for working. So this seems to be the perfect moment to look back thinking of what it was like to move in here and work here on a daily basis, designing art work, cutting blocks, setting type, printing sheets, binding books.

52 Weeks -  Photo-Artist's-Book in collaboration with Marianne Midelburg (AUS)

52 Weeks – Photo-Artist’s-Book in collaboration with Marianne Midelburg (AUS)

I moved in here in February 2004. Back then everything was new and dusty and the walls were bare. We set out to paint them white. I cannot recall just how many buckets of wall paint we ended up needing. Again and again we went to get another one or two. We were lucky in that there was hardly any snow that winter once we started moving press & type. With the help of dozens of friends we managed to have all in place right in time before the opening in March. Our late friend Harald Goldhahn (Harry Hirsch he called himself) came to play us his wonderful Blues. In the previous year he’d asked me to print the sheets for the booklet for his new CD „God Moves on the Water“. Visitors were squeezing in. The whole place was buzzing with life and Harry’s songs until after midnight.

Booklet and CD "God Moves on the Water"

Booklet and CD „God Moves on the Water“

 

The artist at her press

The artist at her press

I had bought my first proofing press back in 1998. It is a 1956 Korrex „Hannover Hand“ with a printing size of 50 x 70 cms; all hand operated, cylinder as well as rollers. The rollers were a bit worn and one of the spindles was slightly bent. For years I could not afford to have them fixed, so until far into 2006 all inking had to be done by using hand rollers.

Tita (1992-2006)

Tita (1992-2006)

Two years after I had moved in we had to say Farewell to our good old dog Tita aged 14. She had been a true and brave companion for more than 12 years. When we went to collect metal type from somewhere, she’d guard the cases piled up in the van by making herself comfortable right on top of the pile. And she’d look all impressive up there.

Metal type: Unger

Metal type: Unger

Alphabet card: Unger

Alphabet card: Unger

Over the years the stock of founts grew. I had started off with one case of Victor Hammer’s Uncial. By now I can choose from some 100 founts of metal or wood type. There is a good choice of ornaments, too. In 2012 I decided to print all my founts as alphabets on cards. It took far longer than expected.

Ornaments

Ornaments

Ornaments: Christmas

Ornaments: Christmas

The type came from all sorts of places: printing offices that had kept it but now needed the space for new machinery, trained composers who had saved some type on retirement, schools giving up on printing. Each and all of the cases came with their own story.

Tools and add-ons

Tools and add-ons

composing-tools

Some came with the most fascinating of tools, with a handful of composing sticks and awls, or with a pile of old tins with ink. Basically, half of the place is filled with presses and type racks, including three platen presses, one of which is an Adana 8×5.

Adana

Adana

prints-drying

Prints can be hung up for drying or left in a metal drying rack. In 2010 a second proofing press completed the team. This one is a mid-1960s Grafix press, its cylinder still hand operated but the rollers motorised. It is slightly smaller in printing size but very smart to work with.

Grafix proofing press

Grafix proofing press

 

Woodblock

Woodblock

Linocutting

Linocutting

The rest of the studio houses the area for cutting blocks from lino or wood, the paper stock and all that is needed for binding books.

Bookbinding

Bookbinding

Board shear

Board shear

I had been luckky to find an affordable board shear in 1999. It might be the eldest tool in the studio being over 100 years of age. It is somewhat special in that it is fitted with a wooden worktable. I have been to a number of bookbinding workshops, basically between 1998 and 2005. I learned a variety of techniques including how to prepare inks and dyes.

Bindings

Experimenting with Binding Techniques

Calligraphy

Calligraphy

For a few years I was given the opportunity to learn Chinese Calligraphy from a Chinese teacher, until she left for going back to China. I consider myself extremely lucky for this wonderful chance to widen my horizon.

brushes

Repeatedly I have used my own dyes prepared from soil pigments to paint sheets prior to printing for both books and broad sides.

from the series "Soil Letters"

from the series „Soil Letters“

Since the late 1970s I have been into photography. I got started with some very simple camera, at one point was given my parents‘ old Contaflex with a separate photometer, and finally had my own Nikon FM camera. I have changed over to a digital one a couple of years ago.

Contaflex and photometer

Contaflex and photometer

Over the past eleven years I haven been making quite a number of prints and books here. There have been Open-Studio events at least on a once-a-year basis, often one in summer and one in winter. Many people have come and seen the place. Some have taken the chance to have a go at the old proofing press and print a sheet with their own hands feeling the wheel and cylinder move. Some came and gave me their last case of metal type, covered in sheets of dust from having been down in the basement for decades untouched. Some have told me the stories of their working lives in printing offices. I have had a stunning scenery lying just beyond my studio’s windows. Almost everybody was blown away by it when visiting me. Next step for me will be to get the studio ready for shipping once we found a new place fit for working in.
(Plans to enlarge the industrial area haven been more or less approved, so there will be substantial changes to the scenery here in the near future.)

July 2012 - outside the studio's windows

July 2012 – outside the studio’s windows

 

 

Working Visit + Fairs to Come

 

Working visit

Working visit

We’ve still not found a suitable place to put all my printing and bookbinding gear in. Commissions started coming in. There’ll be fairs to go to from early September onwards; good reasons for a working visit in my studio. On July 8th I was headed south.

Hohenstaufen from the workplace

Hohenstaufen from the workplace

I was back at my old place after a six hours drive over summerly motorways and after having been away for almost three months. I realised, once more, what I loved this place for. It is quiet here. Friday morning was crisp and cold. I went for an early morning walk through the forest on a path well known. It was where we used to walk our dog. The old lady preferred the woods for her daily walks. She has long left us and the forest has grown dense over the years.

Forest near Wäscherschloss in summer

Forest near Wäscherschloss in summer

 

Pond with reed

Summerly rapeseed field

Just opposite the room where I was staying is a pond which is meant to be a reservoir of water in the case of a fire in the small hamlet. This pond is overgrown with reed and seemed to be filled with crickets. Their chirr filled the late hours before midnight. But in the end they might have been chirping in that field of rapeseed which, further back, was waiting for being harvested.

 

House mouse visitor 2013

House mouse visitor 2013

It was a great relief that I could not find any signs of uninvited visitors. Over the past two years mice had invited themselves in on a few occasions. They must have wandered in through the open door and decided to make themselves at home. It was house mice in 2013 and shrews in 2014. The house mice came in a group of three and turned out to be tricky to catch. The shrews came one after the other and were surprisingly cooperative. I caught them all alive and gave them a lift to some nicer place outside – far enough away from my deckled edge papers and handmade books.

However, it came as a surprise when I actually watched a sparrow flying into the studio through the open window. The little lad seemd to like the place (well, I don’t blame it) and it took me half of Friday and half of Saturday to persuade it, to go and play with its mates outdoors again.

working-folding-sheets

Folding sheets

Folded sheets

Folded sheets

working-bookblock

Working this time meant making books to order. Cutting, folding and sewing sheets. Making covers from fabric and have nice books in the end. My customers wished for books to write into, so it was all blank sheets.

Sewing book

Sewing book

working-assembling-book

 

The Cotswolds Arms

The Cotswolds Arms

Working also meant packing up artist’s books and prints to have them at hand once it comes to travel to the fairs coming up in autumn. Three dates are fixed. It shall be ferry time twice this year, going from Hoek van Holland to Harwich port again. To start with I’ll be part of Whittington Day at Whittington Press near Cheltenham (UK) on September 5th. We’ll be staying on a couple of days enjoying autumn in the Cotswolds. Last year lucky us two picked what later was said to be the warmest September on record. That was not what we came for, but we enjoyed it all the same.

The Fine Press Book Fair at Brookes University, Oxford (UK)

The Fine Press Book Fair at Brookes University, Oxford (UK)

A couple of weeks later I shall be part of the Fine Press Book Fair at Oxford’s Brookes University. The fair will be open on 31 October and 1 November. We’ll be staying on a few days again, greeting Oxford with its Bodleian Library, its gargoyles, its bookshops, the Covered Market and its coffee houses.

Bookshop Oxford

Bookshop Oxford

The next fair to come is 5th Book Arts in Weimar on 28 and 29 November. So after having had a rather long period of more than six months with no fairs at all there’ll be a few of them in quite short a period of time.

Weimar: Goethe and Schiller

Weimar: Goethe and Schiller

By Sunday morning all new books were finished and all the boxes with artist’s books and prints were safely piled up and secured in my little van. I hit the road on Sunday 12th July around 9am. It was still warm in the south. The farther north I came the cooler it got and after some 350 kilometres the downpours began. I made it back in good time.

studio-working-visit-books

Mission accomplished

As I write this it is still overcast, we did have more downpours and all the herbs and flowers on our tiny balcony are still going strong. Our basil is very tasty with fresh tomatoes of the season.

july-balcony