[6125] in APO Printshop
Re: Letterpress printing?
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Leonard H Tower Jr.)
Mon Sep 20 22:20:28 2010
Date: Mon, 20 Sep 2010 22:21:12 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Leonard H Tower Jr." <tower@alum.mit.edu>
To: Kristin Kuhn <kkuhn@mit.edu>
cc: Michael Person <mjperson@mit.edu>, Amaranth Borsuk <amaranth@mit.edu>,
"apo-printshop@mit.edu" <apo-printshop@mit.edu>
In-Reply-To: <AANLkTi=Bqn3pNAhSOXS9pssf8o9xMiRCG7Xigw2Doss3@mail.gmail.com>
kkuhn:
what is the other mit group with a letterpress?
LSC has at least one offset press, and the SAA has a bed press, that
they have used for etching and other fine arts ...
amaranth:
* i'm forwarding your original request to Michael J Tarkanian
<tarky@mit.edu> who is in charge of the student foundry and shop in
course 3. he has an interest in starting a community letterpress
shop, but has been making slow progress
* non-members seldom use the APOster Letterpress Shop
for outsiders to use the shop, you would have to:
** be both trained and then qualified as a press operator.
this takes around 16 hours
priority is given to APO members. and we have few brothers who
are qualified to do this. basically me, and occasionally two
others. i have a full life and try to average a no more than 16
hours a month on this
** arrange to have a brother, or an alumnus be with you in the
APOffice to provide access and security. APO has had enough
theft of it's equipment and brothers belongings from the
APOffice, that outsiders are seldom allowed unsupervised access
* if you have an interest in community service, you could pledge, and
in a term become a brother, if you meet the requirements. this
would give you access to the APOffice. but if you aren't interested
in doing substantial amounts of community service in a
brotherhood ...
* there are small $$ charges for using the press
* we have two hand feed C&P clamshells, that have been heavily used,
and have significant bearing wear. I.E. fine art printing, close
registration of multiple colors, half-tones, and fine lines are all
hard to do with quality - not impossible, but few people over the
four decades APO has had the press shop, has been able to do it
you might contact these places. see what you can work out, or if they
know of where you could get access
* The Bow & Arrow Press in Adams House @ Harvard has a very nice shop,
and does excellent work. enter Adams House on Plympton Street
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=276687345369
not sure they allow non-harvard's to use the shop
* http://www.milkrow.com/letterpressclasses.html
* Museum of Printing located at 800 Massachusetts Avenue in North
Andover, Ma
* there are a growing number of small commercial presses in boston and
nearby. google should turn them up
yiLFS -len
Date: Mon, 20 Sep 2010 20:59:59 -0400
From: Kristin Kuhn <kkuhn@MIT.EDU>
To: Michael Person <mjperson@mit.edu>
Cc: Amaranth Borsuk <amaranth@mit.edu>,
"apo-printshop@mit.edu" <apo-printshop@mit.edu>
Subject: Re: Letterpress printing?
I am a current press op with Alpha Chi! **yay letterpress!!**
I don't think there is a letterpress community at MIT... there are two(?)
student groups that have one, but they just use it for their own purposes. I
believe there is some sort of Boston-area community though... Len (who is on
this list) would know waaay more!
I am not sure what our policies are about usage, exactly... I will endeavor
to find out, and let you know!
I would also love to show you around, if Wed. afternoon doesn't work for
you!
-Kristin
On Mon, Sep 20, 2010 at 4:43 PM, Michael Person <mjperson@mit.edu> wrote:
> Amaranth,
>
> I need to go to the APO office to break some type
> on Wednesday afternoon, so would be happy to give you a
> tour of the press then. However, it's my understanding
> that use of the press is restricted to trained members of
> the fraternity. Others on this list might be able to
> provide you with pointers to other available presses.
>
> Regards,
>
> -Michael Person
> mjperson@mit.edu
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> Michael J Person, PhD
> MIT Planetary Astronomy Laboratory and
> George R. Wallace Jr. Astrophysical Observatory
>
> MIT Bldg 54-418
> 77 Massachusetts Ave.
> Cambridge, MA 02139
>
> Office: 617-452-2304
> Email: mjperson@mit.edu
>
> On Sep 20, 2010, at 3:24 PM, Amaranth Borsuk wrote:
>
> > Hello,
> >
> > I am a book artist and poet new to the MIT campus. I heard you operate a
> printing press and wondered whether I might come by to see your workshop.
> >
> > I have a background in letterpress printing, which informs my current
> intermedia work. I'd love to get involved if there is any kind of
> letterpress community on campus. I'm also looking for access to a press to
> print a second edition of my artist's book Between Page and Screen,
> www.betweenpageandscreen.com. If that might be possible, or if you have
> any resources to suggest, please let me know!
> >
> > Sincere thanks,
> > Amaranth
> >
> > Amaranth Borsuk
> > Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in the Humanities
> > Massachusetts Institute of Technology
> > amaranth@mit.edu
> > 617-253-4532
>
>
>
>
