KH – Page 4 – Turn-Based Press

Our inaugural print effort is one that we think is amusing; Functional Print Series (One), is a series in which we depict items we need. They’re printed as simple screenprints from hand-drawn positives, and they’re quirky loving renditions of common printshop items that we’ll have to acquire.

With this series, we’re also playing with the idea of the edition as a commercial strategy. During this era of nearly infinite repeatability, editions are seldom restricted by the physical limitations of the process, as they were in days of old. Lots of folks think of editions as if an edition were merely the opposite of an exclusive, unique, expensive art object. In printmaking circles, however, there are ideas about editions being non-localized conceptual presentations, the artifact of wear or error enforcing limitations on production, a varied yet repeatable statement, and so on.

What we’ve done is tallied the costs for the depicted items, then divided that by the number of impressions. Each impression (excluding We Need to Pay People!) is therefore valued at 1/60 of the cost of these items we need. Should Turn-Based Press be given any of the depicted items, that value will be subtracted from the price of the total cost, which lowers the cost per impression.

At this moment, each impression is valued at $187.00; the total cost of all the equipment (new, though I shopped competitively) would be $11,227.68.

We’re also amusing ourselves by setting a value on the works which is not associated with an artist’s market value. Though I personally drew, exposed, printed and signed them, they function only as a product of the press. I even signed them KH/TBP rather than my usual signature.

The prints were installed for the Art Basel Miami Beach Open Studios 2012 event, but they’ll be coming down this week as we make some space for a Young Arts exhibition.

Created as a kind of tanget to the above series, the print We Need to Pay People!, stands alone. We valued it differently. It starts at a base price of $50 per impression (edition of 10), but then we ask the purchaser to pay whatever amount they like on-top of that. This reflects upon the fact that a lot of labor in the arts is done unpaid, or as a volunteer effort.

We Need to Pay People! is a two-run screenprint on a buff-colored paper. The print has a gloss coat (which appears more sparkly than flatly shiny), and is signed on the back.

When you purchase one from the edition, it will come with a Certificate of Authenticity, which will include a small essay explaining the series. A PDF of the text is below.

Functional Print Series One text, Turn-Based Press, Dec 2012

*This post slightly repeats and adds to a previous post about the Functional Print Series.

Because there’s still so much we have to do and get at Turn-Based Press, we’ve created a print series that we think might be able to help us do that. Called Functional Print Series (One), it’s comprised of seven editions of 10, each of which depicts something that the printshop needs to function. Here’s part of the statement that accompanies the work and which is also part of the Certificate of Authenticity which comes with each print purchased:

This series is comprised of seven editions of ten impressions each. The works depict items which we need to acquire in order for the printshop to be optimally functional. The price of each individual work, and of the editions as a whole has been linked to the real-world market value of the items depicted. Various contemporary editions link the price of the works to market value, as opposed to physical limitations inherent to the manufacture of the work. Most typically, the value assigned is associated with value related to what the market will bear for a particular artist’s work. In the case of this print series, however, the relationship between value and cost is clearly functional: we need these things, and this is what it will cost to get them! By purchasing one of the works from us, you aid us in reaching the goal of purchasing what we need.

We do have a source of funds to draw upon for some equipment purchases, courtesy of the Knight Foundation, and a great space for the press, courtesy of Miami Worldcenter, but there’s still a lot to buy, install and do! Any purchase you make from us will go to offset the myriad costs involved with both starting up and operating the press, and we are sincerely grateful for your support.

Of course, you also purchase a bit of history, share in a visual love letter to the things which help us make prints, get a work of art, get 10% off the cost of a membership to the press (available in January)–and with the purchase of one of each of the series (all of Series One except We Need to Pay People!), get a free class.

Six of the editions depict items, but the seventh depicts the word “Labor”; this print is entitled We Need to Pay People, and it will be priced at a minimum cost above which buyers are encouraged to add any amount they think worthwhile to help pay those of us who work to both get this project going and keep it running.

We Need to Pay People; Turn-Based Press Functional Print Series — We Need to Pay People!
10″ x 11″, two-run screenprint (black and gloss coat), 2012

All of the prints are single-run screenprints, with the exception of We Need to Pay People!, which has an additional gloss overcoat run that gives the image a subtle sparkle which can only be perceived when directly handling the work.

The prints are currently installed in our area in the Downtown ArtHouse building, and will begin to be available for sale in-person starting Thursday, December 6, 2012.

TBP Functional Print Series One plus Turn Base Mark — Installation view depicting the Functional Print Series and a collaborative work by KH and Adler Guerrier titled “Turn Base Mark”.

Back in 2008, Adler and I worked on a collaboration for a show called Coupling (organized by Kristen Thiele), the theme of which was collaborations between artist-couples. Because our kid was six years-old at the time, creating the work was challenging for us, and we primarily made the work by taking turns going to the printshop to work on it; one would be home with our child, and the other would be working on the piece.

During this process, I began to joke that we were doing turn-based printmaking. We both enjoy playing turn-based strategy games, and in the past used to play games together using the hotseat method: we’d each take our turn, then cede the chair in front of the computer to the other, to wait patiently again until our next turn. It seemed to me at the time that our collaborative art-making strategy was much like the playing of turn-based strategy games. It occurred to me that that would be a brilliant name for a press.

There’s a sense of collaboration, patience and turn-taking involved in working in a communal printshop, and there’s also the act of turning: turning cranks, turning pages, turning paper and images recto to verso, and so on. It was during the making of this collaborative work for the Coupling exhibition that I decided that if I ever started a press, that I would call it Turn-Based Press.

When the 2009 Knight Arts Challenge applications rolled around, I applied to start Turn-Based Press, not really expecting that I would get it. When I was awarded the grant, it was wonderful, and all the hard work that lead to today began.

In the Press now, adjacent to the Turn-Based Press Functional Print Series (One), Adler and I have installed Turn-Base Mark, the work which was the beginning of everything. Curiously, black waves feature prominently in the work, and also ended up being a prominent feature of the building mural–a decision that was made by people other than me and Adler (all of the building occupants split tasks well, and the folks who proposed the mural that we ended up going with were actually the TM Sisters and Thom Wheeler Castillo, I believe).

The black waves in the mural now are there as a nod to the original mural on the building which was the former home of Captain Harry’s.

It’s as if the work Adler and I did together had some level of prescience! We wanted to share it with everyone now that the Press is open to the public and in the first stages of setting up (it’s been a long, complicated road!).

Coupling 1 KH AG 2008 — Turn Base Mark; Collaborative image made by Kathleen Hudspeth and Adler Guerrier for the 2008 show ‘Coupling’.

Coupling 2 KH AG 2008 — Turn Base Mark; Collaboration between Kathleen Hudspeth and Adler Guerrier, made for the 2008 show ‘Coupling’.

Black Waves at Downtown ArtHouse — The black waves on the mural are a reference to the previous mural that was on the building before we moved in.

For a little while, at least until Google updates their street view of the area, you can see an image of what the old mural used to look like. It was commissioned from Cary Chen by Captain Harry’s, and was an iconic landmark in the area–it was especially beloved by fisherfolk, in fact. We weren’t able to incorporate the fish into the mural, but we did want to keep some reference to it out of respect.

Downtown ArtHouse East Wing — Turn-Based Press and BFI are located in the East wing of the building.

We’re happy to let you know that we’re moving into a great space in Downtown Miami! It’s the site of the old Captain Harry’s, beloved locale of fisherfolk and fans of fish-related murals, located at 100 NE 11th St. We’ve changed the mural, but insisted upon maintaining the iconic forms of the waves. The building is split into two wings, and we’ll be occupying the East side along with BFI, while Dimensions Variable and the TM Sisters will be sharing the West side.

Work has begun, and events will be underway for this ABMB season, though the Press itself likely won’t be operational until January. We’ll be keeping you appraised via various means, some of which are yet to come!

We’re still working on our website, so expect future changes.

Thanks again to the Miami Worldcenter and the DDA for all of their support and assistance in getting this project off the ground.

Author: KH