Imprints of the New Modernist Editing:
Yapping with Cutbush: A one-day practical workshop on
letterpress typography and print, led by Edwin Pickstone (project CoI)
Glasgow School of Art, Thursday 5th December 2019
The early twentieth century saw great waves of reform, standardisation and professionalisation move through the European and American print industries. However, the period is also of great consequence for the breaking down of formal and orthodox barriers, with artists, authors and designers finding new senses of ‘authorship’ in the production of the printed word. In exploring these historical contexts, workshop participants will be able to better appreciate the practical and aesthetic considerations at play in the creation of modernist texts through hands on experience of the technologies which were used in their production, and through the creation of their own new printed material. Held in the Caseroom, Glasgow School of Art this workshop is intended to give participants an experience of how independent printers such as the Hogarth Press found new forms as they grappled to combine language and aesthetics with the practical restrictions of letterpress printing. Over the course of the day each participants will move through the roles of Editor, Designer, Printer and Binder to produce their own unique edition of Virginia Woolf’s currently unprinted short story ‘Ode written partly in prose on seeing the name of Cutbush above a butcher’s shop in Pentonville’.
The Caseroom, Glasgow School of Art is the largest collection of letterpress printing equipment in a higher education institution in Scotland. Dedicated to the art of moveable type this fully functioning workshop houses a wide range of typefaces in both metal and wood, multiple printing presses and associated machinery, the oldest of which was produced in the mid nineteenth century. Amongst other credits, The Caseroom is a listed member of the International Association of Printing Museums and European Association of Printing Museums.
Edwin Pickstone is Lecturer, Typography Technician and Designer in Residence at The Glasgow School of Art, where since 2005 he has cared for the school’s collection of letterpress printing equipment. Focusing on the material nature of print Pickstone uses letterpress technology, collaborating with artists and designers on a wide range of projects. His work spans academic, artistic and design worlds, with particular interest in the history of typography, graphic design, the nature of print and the book.
Applications for this workshop are now closed.
