Period
2011
Proposed by
Gregory Sholette
Location
Philadelphia
About the project
Temporary Services seeks to create a new publicly accessible publishing facility and experimental cultural center that will live and breathe in the middle of a giant green lung in Philadelphia. The facility would work directly with Philadelphia residents (particularly those who may have never printed anything before) to create a series of new publications on-site.
Printed City was a proposal for a living building in every sense. It would have functioned as a place of residence for group members, giving Temporary Services a place for their practice to thrive. The center would have worked with existing community groups, institutions, and individuals, combining artistic production with practical information and assistance to create an interesting and atypical community.
We will use print and online publications and publicly distributed fliers to solicit publication proposals from Philadelphia residents. Materials for building layouts and rough designs will be provided. Two Risograph printers will be used to print publications in editions of at least 250 copies. These printers use soy ink and banana paper masters to make color prints that closely resemble screen printing. All the waste from this printing process can be safely composted. Authors will keep one third of their editions. We will set aside another third for free distribution inside the building, and to donate to public libraries and collections. Another third would be sold to support our operations.
The interior of the space will be built from scavenged, reused, and growing materials. The design will make the entire process of developing a book visible and easy to understand: from content creation to layout and final realization.
External links
About the artist
Temporary Services is Brett Bloom and Marc Fischer. They started working together in Chicago in 1998 as a larger group. In 2008, they started Half Letter Press, a publishing imprint and online store. They are currently based in Chicago and Fort Wayne (IN) and produce exhibitions, events, projects, and publications.
