URBAN COTTAGE INDUSTRIES & PRINT CLUB LONDON A UNIQUE COLLABORATION OF ILLUSTRATION, PRINTING & LIGHT
THURSDAY 17th OCTOBER 2013
6.30pm TIL LATE – MC MOTORS, DALSTON
PREVIEW EVENT:
For one night only (kindly hosted by legendary MC Motors / Castle Gibson) Urban Cottage Industries and Print Club London will host a unique celebration of their work and collaborative efforts. Featuring a cinema film screening, bar, DJ, actual working linotype machines and unique Historic Lighting creations. Guests will be able to party and print into the night. Prints by established and up and coming artists will be exhibited and available for sale on the night.
Tickets are free by pre-registration onlywww.urbancottageindustries.com/party
STORY:
Original and much loved Print Club London artwork to be released as affordable linotype & letterpress prints by Urban Cottage Industries. Prints will be available for the first time via a new website: urbancottageindustries.com.
BACKGROUND:
1884 > Ottmar Mergenthaler invented the Linotype machine. Described by Thomas Edison as ‘the eighth wonder of the world’ it changed printing and literature forever
2011 > 100+ years later the machines had sunk without trace. Urban Cottage Industries found and rescued the UK’s last working machines from the scrap yard
2013 > Urban Cottage Industries collaborate with Print Club London to re-imagine linotype printing for the modern world
THE COLLABORATORS:
URBAN COTTAGE INDUSTRIES
A UK manufacturer & supplier. Best known for kick-starting and fuelling London’s endless obsession with British made vintage industrial lighting and bare filament bulbs. More recently, they rescued and restored the UK’s last remaining collection of original linotype print machines. Building on their reputation as the ‘go to’ company for historic lighting they now also embrace historic printing. Most importantly they secured a future for the technicians and knowledge required to keep historic print art forms alive.
PRINT CLUB LONDON
Commissioning the most talented emerging and established artists to design limited edition silk screenprints, Print Club London has had a real impact on what has become the largest resurgence of screen printing since Andy Warhol. Open 24 hrs a day and 365 days a year, they have taught over 4000 people to screen print and sold over 6000 limited edition prints. Print Club’s ‘Blisters’ exhibition and print sale is a hugely over-subscribed annual feature on the capital’s art landscape.
MANIFESTO:
Both companies were ahead of the curve when they set up businesses in Dalston, East London. Back in 2007 it was a cheap and relatively undiscovered place where artists and makers could find space and do business. Friendship and mutual respect were forged while rediscovering the many good old fashioned industrial techniques of printing and lighting they have each since developed to international acclaim.
Urban Cottage Industries have their heart and soul in traditionally made products. Both companies have a natural appreciation of objects from the past, skilled trades and the importance of a quality end product. They share a passion for craftsmanship.
