Utopia Letterpress Prints

Utopia
22in x 14in
Letterpress on card

Beautifully printed by James Lang at Horwinski Printing using lead and wood type on a letterpress built in 1885 that is as large as a mid-size car.

The text in this poster comes from a talk I gave at Berlin’s Transmediale Festival on Utopia in the Spring of 2010.

How to Order a Print

You, personally, determine the price of the print.

I made a large print run because I want you to have one. The idea of creating a traditional art object “limited edition” and manufactured scarcity is contradictory to the ideals I’m working towards. So I decided with this piece I can make an “unlimited edition.” That means, as long as I am able, these prints will be available to anyone who would like one.

For me to fix the cost of a print about Utopia is absurd. I ask you to pay what you think it’s worth to you, given the resources you have. I want you to have this, I want you to feel the price you paid is fair, and I trust you to determine that. This way the prints can fit in everyone’s budget.

Here’s some information to help you determine your price. The cost of producing the prints, shipping the edition to me, and packing and shipping a print to you in the United States is roughly $18.20 per print. My labor is difficult to quantify (how long did it take me to come up with this idea, to work with the printer, to write these words, to shoot the photographs? How can this support future work? How can this practice sustain itself? It goes on and on…) so I’m leaving that part up to you. $18.20 per print only covers the raw costs, and I make nothing.

Again, I want you to have this print and for you to pay what you think it’s worth, given the resources you have.