A quick update about the Unbound Book Festival.
We will have our new LED installation at Stephens College all day Saturday, April 22 (not Friday and Saturday as previously announced).
Here’s why you should stop by:
See you there!
Our installation at the 2017 Unbound Book Festival will feature new work by Columbia author, Jennifer Maritza McCauley. We couldn’t be happier about sharing her writing with Columbia’s literature lovers!
In case you don’t already know her work:
Jennifer Maritza McCauley is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Missouri. She is also Contest Editor at The Missouri Review, associate editor at Origins Literary Journal and reviews editor at Fjords Review. She has received creative writing fellowships from SAFTA, CantoMundo and the Knight Foundation, and her work appears or is forthcoming in Columbia Journal, Vassar Review, Passages North and Jabberwock Review, amongst other outlets. Her poetry collection SCAR ON/SCAR OFF will be released in fall 2017.
Come see us on April 21st and 22nd to experience Jennifer’s work scrolling by on our LED display – you won’t be disappointed.
When we aren’t uploading literature to LED displays, you can find us making artists’ books. In fact, this contrast was part of the initial inspiration behind Literature Emitting Diodes. We were curious about how directly a work could be presented to the public, given the amount of work that can go into the production of an experimental publication. In fact, that term “publication” may be inappropriate since none of that work actually guarantees that the work will make it to the public – hence our interest in the direct appeal of the LED display.
Yet, in all this time, we never tried to marry the two interests. That’s why we were excited to see that the wonderfully talented book artist, Susan Lowdermilk, is doing just that — and teaching other people how to do it, too! Check out her upcoming workshop at the Oregon College of Art and Craft to see more. It’s called Shadow and Light: The LED Pop-Up Artist’s Book. The workshop runs from Friday, February 24 to Sunday, February 26. There are still spots available and you can register using the link above.
We can’t wait to see what everyone makes! No doubt this will continue to be a rich area for exploration in book arts. There is certainly a rich overlap in mindset and skillset that makes bookbinding and circuitry a perfect pair. We’re grateful that artists like Lowdermilk and organizations like OCAC so forcefully demonstrate the evolving relevance of craft in the 21st Century.
We had a great time celebrating the completion of the Literature Emitting Diodes Anthology. RoscoeBooks was a wonderful host, and we were thrilled to present readings by four of our contributing authors!
Thanks to Robert Eric Shoemaker, Ruby Figueroa, Lisa Torem, and Laura Knickelbine for reading!
The wait is finally over! We have 200 copies of the LED Anthology, and we couldn’t be more excited to share them.
You can purchase a copy on the Partial Press website:
http://www.partialpress.net/catalog.html#led-anthology
Literature Emitting Diodes is about reclaiming a medium of communication. Our point of departure was advertising, but there is another prominent use of LED signage, one that aims to modify viewers’ behavior even more directly than advertising: road signage. This type of direct, imperative language is ripe for appropriation, as seen in this recent case of hacktivism in Chicago. The Chicago Sun Times article below also cites previous actions along the same lines.
http://chicago.suntimes.com/politics/construction-sign-hacked-flash-message-disparaging-mayor/
We’re eagerly awaiting a proof of the paperback LED Anthology, which means it’s time for you to place an order. If you pre-order the anthology, we’ll ship your copy with some sweet letterpress ephemera, hot off the press. Don’t wait though, once we approve the proof and our books ship, any purchase will just be a regular ol’ order (still a pretty swell deal at only $6.00).
You’re probably wondering where you can place your order. Allow us to introduce our new website! Partial Press is the umbrella organization behind LED (you may have noticed it on our about page) and now that LED is moving on to this exciting new phase, we decided it was time to launch Partial Press and begin rolling out other exciting publishing projects. Visit the Catalog Page to ore-order the LED Anthology and be sure to check out our other publications for sale.
LED news will continue to be posted here with our archive, but you’ll want to check Partial Press for other announcements and opportunities in the realm of experimental and small press publishing. The Partial Press Facebook page (formerly our LED page) will continue to feature LED content. You can also follow Partial Press on Tumblr if you’re into that.
We want to share a very cool project that shares a kindred spirit with LED. Furthermore, we heard about this project because it was one of the works featured in this year’s recent Art in Odd Places in NYC, which is also very much up our alley. From October 6-9, AiOP activated 14th St. with installations, performances, and all sorts of projects centered on this year’s theme: Race.
Race is also the title of the piece we’re posting about, by artist Lee Nutbean. Nutbean’s piece is an LED display that spells the word “race” and, like LED, travels to different storefronts throughout the area. Nutbean’s twist is that the sign is connected to social media, and only turns off when online mentions of the word race cease. You can read more about it here. The simple, powerful sign is evocative whether or not a viewers knows about its clever online connection. It shifts between verb and noun, playing into and off of its surroundings, interpreted differently by each viewer passing by.
We hope you look into AiOP and enjoy their mission as much as we do. It’s well worth getting acquainted with the participating artists. We’re newly inspired to continue with LED in the future, though we’re not yet sure what form it will take next. As their curators state, their work “requires openness to chance and vulnerability amid chaos” and that is exactly what has made working on LED so meaningful and enjoyable.
Photos courtesy of Art in Odd Places and Hyperallergic.
Here are a few photos from our first evening at Krispyfringe Vintage. As usual, the installation will be up for a few weeks, so stop by to read Harnidh Kaur’s excellent poem, How to Drape a Sari.
If you visit during business hours, mention LED when you make a purchase and you’ll receive a 10% discount (thanks Krispyfringe)!
Their hours are:
Monday -Tuesday: Closed
Wednesday – Friday: 12pm to 7pm
Saturday and Sunday: 11am to 6pm
Krispyfringe is located in West Town at 2130 W. Chicago Ave.
Exciting news, readers: You will receive 10% off your purchase when you mention LED at Krispyfringe Vintage. A discount just for supporting poetry!
Stop in and say hi, read Harnidh’s poem (probably more than once – you’ll want to), and maybe leave with a new-to-you outfit or accessory. What could be better?
Literature Emitting Diodes 