Episode 19: The Book Makers Film

Today’s episode is about the documentary film The Book Makers. If you haven’t already seen the film, I recommend watching it before listening to this podcast. I speak with filmmaker James Kennard, and book maker Mark Sarigianis, and although we do some talking about books in general, I think this podcast episode would be more enjoyable as an accompaniment to film.

The Book Makers can be viewed streaming on PBS, or visit TheBookMakersFilm.com

The Book Makers was released in 2020 by InCa films. The documentary profiles several letterpress printers, bookbinders, historians, librarians, and artists who are working to keep books alive in the 21st century. The film profiles an eclectic group of people who have dedicated their lives to answering the question: what should books become in the digital age? From the esoteric world of book artists to the digital libraries of the Internet Archive, the film spins a tale of the enduring vitality of the book. This engaging documentary captures the painstaking but pleasurable process of creating hand-crafted books, in a diverse range of styles and mediums. The film travels from New York to Germany’s Black Forest, culminating at the Codex Book Fair in San Francisco, where the cast of characters congregates to sell their books to collectors from universities and the Library of Congress, and to curious buyers from around the world. Along the way, THE BOOK MAKERS highlights the talent, dedication and skill of these book artists, and reframes the concept and purpose of the book itself.

Mark Sarigianis the proprietor of Prototype Press and is featured heavily in The Book Makers producing a fine press edition of Charles Bukowski’s novel Ham on Rye. Mark apprenticed at Arion Press and M&H Type Foundry in San Francisco before starting an independent press with Davey Johnston who passed away in 2015 before their project was complete. Mark recently moved Prototype Press from West Oakland to Maryland where he now lives in and works.

James Kennard is a filmmaker from the Bay Area, and The Book Makers is his feature directorial debut following a 10-year career in documentary and film production. James is now based in Los Angeles working in the film industry.

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Episode 18: Quarantine Public Library, Zines, and Time

Welcome to 2021 everyone! Today I talk a little about pandemic projects, zines, and artist’s books, and have a wonderful discussion with the Quarantine Public Library.

The Quarantine Public Library (QPL) is a collaborative project dreamed up by artists Katie Garth and Tracy Honn in May of 2020. QPL is an online book repository that features downloadable and printable booklets. The single-sheet eight-fold zine (or “instabook” from episode 16) format is ideal because it’s a simple structure that really anyone can create. QPL isn’t a “zine library” so much as it is a collection of creative responses to the simple structure.

The statement on the site reads: We wanted to make something to share as many of us are staying at home, disconnected from art, books, and one another. The project is not about COVID-19, but is explicitly of its time. With brisk attention, a lot of talking and correspondence, and the enthusiastic good will of generous artists who say yes, we offer this as a gift to share and circulate in a discombobulated time.

The QPL site is entirely free, offering the booklets to download and print. There is an instructional video showing how to assemble each booklet yourself. I think in these strange times, there is something comforting about making things by hand, especially a structure that is so quick and easy. It provides a small but much-needed sense of accomplishment. All donations to QPL go to EveryoneOn.org, a non-profit that connects low-income families to affordable internet service and computers.

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Episode 16: Bookworms, Printer's Devils, and Type Lice, Oh My!

Today we investigate a combination of book and printing terms and phrases. We also have several special guest book makers sharing their favorite bookish terms. Some of them are probably familiar, though you might be surprised of their book art origins, like “hot off the press!”, or “mind your p’s and q’s”. Other terms are fairly specialized, but fun, because who doesn't want to talk about printer’s devils and hellboxes?

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Episode 15: Blue Skies for Austin Book Arts Center

Today I speak with Mary Baughman, co-founder and chair of the governing board for the Austin Book Arts Center, and retired conservator for the Harry Ransom Center at University of Texas Austin. We talk about the history of book arts in Texas, the mission of the Austin Book Arts Center, and the use of book arts education to encourage literacy. Mary is a member of the Lone Star chapter of the Guild of Book Workers, a founding member of Austin Book Workers, and one of the originators of the Book Arts Fair held for 20+ years at Laguna Gloria Art Museum.

The mission of Austin Book Arts Center is to engage people of all ages in creative, interpretive, and educational experiences related to the arts of the book.

ABAC regularly offers workshops in letterpress printing, bookbinding, papermaking, typography, book history and design, and various arts of the book.

ABAC seeks to advance the book as a vital contemporary art form, preserve the traditional and robust crafts related to making books, promote the contemporary arts of making books, inspire diverse artists and learners, and engage the community in creative, interpretive, and educational experiences, including the improvement of literacy for people of all ages.

There is a current Blue Skies Go Fund Me campaign for ABAC to help with losses suffered during the pandemic, As part of this fundraiser, donators at any level are invited to watch the premiere of the documentary film Good Book Action on Friday November 13th at 7pm Central Time, about Master Binder, conservator, and founder of BookLab Craig Jensen. The film premiere will be followed by a Q & A with Craig Jensen and filmmaker Mark Hall.

Austin Book Arts Center
Craig Jensen / BookLab
Books in the Wild
Coyote Bones Press

Episode 14: James Cook, Bookbinder & Murderer of John Paas, Tool Maker

Tonight we have a true crime tale of a 19th century English bookbinder gone bad, the murder of tool maker John Paas by bookbinder James Cook. And then for some added perspective, I interview bookbinder and tool maker, (but not murderer) Brien Beidler. 

Quick warning, this story is particularly gory, but I try not to be too gratuitous with details. Not only was the crime gruesome, but perhaps ironically the punishment for the crime was equally as appalling that amendments were made for ethical execution methods. If you listen to regular true crime podcasts, or unsolved mysteries, or the news, you’ll be fine.

Links:

Books in the Wild
Leicester Chronicle - James Cook
Untold Lives Blog - James Cook
Criminal Corpses - James Cook
Brien Beidler - Beidler Made
Cut the Craft Podcast
Coyote Bones Press
The Paper Carnival

Episode 11: Fake News(papers)!

If you've ever watched any television shows or movies ever, you may have seen a familiar looking newspaper read by many fictional characters for decades. This exact same newspaper has been spotted in Scrubs, Modern Family, No Country for Old Men, Everyone Hates Chris, Back to the Future, Desperate Housewives, Married With Children, Charmed, That 70’s Show, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and even classics like Citizen Cane and Cincinnati Kid.

Is this a newspaper conspiracy? No, not really. It is a stock item printed by the Earl Hays Press in California, a specialty shop that creates film props such as stock newspapers and recreations of "real' newspapers, fictional brands and products, and even fake IDs and currency. 

In this episode we will dive a little deeper into the legendary newspaper, and the dos and don'ts of printing film props. 

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Episode 10: Unreadable Books

Today’s episode is all about unreadable books. What does it mean to read? How do we garner read meaning from text written in a language that we do not understand? Today we will talk about the process of reading, and I have some fun historical and contemporary examples of indecipherable books. We will go into the mysterious Voynich Manuscript, the surreal Codex Seraphinianus, and contemporary unreadable works by book artists Heather Peters and Timothy Ely. 

Links:
Coyote Bones Press / Keri Schroeder
The Paper Carnival
Voynich Manuscript
Codex Seraphinianus
Heather Peters
Timothy Ely
Full Show Transcript