Literary |
Back to Basicsby Mark Norris |
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Popular consensus would seem to find that books, along with newspapers and magazines for that matter, are a dying medium. True, the Web and ever-evolving computer technology have revolutionized the way people obtain their news, stories and folklore (just as Johannes Gutenberg’s printing press did nearly six centuries ago). Yet, disturbingly, many people seem to feel that as time goes by, and an increasing number of the population does the bulk of its reading on the computer screen, that books will simply stop being published. It may seem far-off or fantastical—and a little “Big Brother”-ish to boot—to think of a world without books, but look how quickly compact discs completely replaced vinyl records a few decades ago.
This weekend, a group of locally-based bookbinders, papermakers and artists will (literally) set up shop at the Roycroft Campus’ newly completed Coppershop (formerly the Roycroft gift shop). At the Roycroft Book-Arts Weekend, held this Friday through Sunday (Oct. 14-16), these craftsmen will offer a series of classes, exhibits and lectures likely to prove that technology proponents and book doomsayers are all wrong. This three-day series will also produce the first books created on the Roycroft Campus in over half a century.
”The Roycroft was an internationally known focal point of the Arts and Crafts movement 100 years ago, with printing as a primary activity,” says Richard Kegler, artistic director of P22 Type Foundry, a Buffalo-based and similarly internationally distributed computer font company. “The fact that this local landmark and its purpose is being revived is a great thing for the region.”
In 1897, writer, editor and publisher Elbert Hubbard established the Roycroft Printing Shop and Roycroft Press in East Aurora, NY. Until Hubbard’s death in 1915, the presses created some of the finest hand-crafted books of the period. Of course, many of those books are now highly collectible and the names Hubbard and Roycroft have become interchangeable with the Arts and Crafts artists movement emphasizing the work and craftsmanship of the individual over the sterile, massed-produced qualities associated with the turn-of-the-century manufacturing explosion.
This weekend, Kegler will be joined by local craftsmen and artists Peter Sowiski and Brian Maloney for courses on hand papermaking and traditional bookbinding. Readers may well ask the question, “Why is this sort of return to craftsmanship taking place at the exact same time that new digital technologies are sweeping art and advertising movements?”
“Some of the reasons for doing it now are some of the same reasons that the Arts and Crafts movement got going in the first place,” Kegler explains. “It was as a reaction to some of the de-humanizing aspects of the Industrial Revolution. In a way there is currently a resurgence of hand craft again which may be a reaction to the digital age. Everything is instant on the Internet and not at all tactile. So this is a way of getting back to that kind of hand-craft and appreciation of a thing for all that it is instead of just having some end product and having no idea where it came from.”
In the coming months and years, The Roycroft Campus Corporation is hoping to facilitate this return to personalized craft-making with a series of courses, lectures and exhibits all aimed at returning the campus to its former full-functioning glory. The organization is looking to acquire all of the buildings on the Roycroft campus and restore them in the same manner it has rejuvenated the Roycroft Inn. The non-profit corporation is setting its sights further still with a vision to become a center for the arts with an educational facility and museum site.
“This is the first of many classes of this kind,” says Douglas Swift, President of The Roycroft Campus Corporation. “We see the desire in people to step away from the computer occasionally and actually work with their hands to create something unique. This is an opportunity to learn about an art that isn’t really lost but is certainly dwindling… Although we aren’t completely divorcing ourselves from technology in terms of what our vision is, we’re looking to celebrate the traditional Arts and Crafts movement and to see how it has evolved.”
If printed matter is really going the way of the dodo, then why is it that the bookstores are still filled with ravenous shoppers, lettered chair-loungers and magazine grazers on a daily basis? Let’s just say that people have always felt the need to connect with their reading through direct touch. Most of us still enjoy the texture and feel of a finely crafted (or even cheaply made) book. Books are so decidedly intertwined with our shared history, language and culture that it’s hard to believe that we’ll see the day when they are completely replaced with a digital interface. In the present, The Roycroft Book-Arts Weekend assures that the desire and skill to create craftsman-quality books remains with us no matter what technological advances may come along.
The Roycroft Book-Arts Weekend takes place this Friday through Sunday (Oct. 14–16) at the Roycroft Campus Coppershop (on South Grove at Main in East Aurora). Prices for the courses vary and reservations are required. On Sunday (Oct. 16) from 10am to 5pm, an open house at the Coppershop will allow visitors to enjoy the weekend’s work, exhibits of Roycroft printing, and demonstrations of the presses and set type. For more information, visit www.roycroftcampuscorporation.com/courses.htm or call 655-5108 or 655-0261.
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