Friday November 5, 2010
8:30 am - 5:00 pm
John Cotton Dana Library
Rutgers-Newark campus

In an age of instantaneous electronic communication, the slow pace of traditional methods of composing and printing from type continues to offer book artists a complex, historically resonant and perhaps more deeply felt experience of the art of expression.

Research and Reverie will focus on the recent history and culture of letterpress printing and the design of the book structure. Steven O. Saxe, a renowned historian of printing, and Theo Rehak, a type founder, will share their research into past practices and what that means for the future of type and artists will discuss how they use traditional letterpress skills and the book structure to create their own inventive and expressive artworks.

In presentations by Barbara Henry, the Program Chair, and Barbara Mauriello, a bookbinder, Research and Reverie will also consider the collaborative nature of building a book and how, in opposition to traditional artistic media such as a painting and sculpture, which emphasize the vision and expression of a single creative individual, the art of book-making is inherently cooperative and interactive, more like the work of a musical ensemble.

Artists Roni Gross and Bryan Baker will talk about how they integrate letterpress into their artists’ books, and Michael Joseph, founding director of the New Jersey Book Arts Symposium, will present a short tribute to the iconoclastic typographer, Lowell Bodger.

To reserve a place at the book arts symposium, prospective attendees should send their name, address, phone #, email address, and indicate if they are Rutgers University staff, student, faculty, or guests to:

Registration costs for guests are $45 and for Rutgers faculty, staff, and students are $15. Fees include lunch at the Stonsby Commons. Checks should be made payable to:
     Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

Registration deadline: Wednesday November 3, 2010.
Seating is limited.