ART IN THE AGE OF MECHANICAL REPRODUCTION

News from The Lyceum: Eco-Friendly Printmaking

Solvents suck. Big time. Countless studies have shown that prolonged exposure to VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) can cause nervous and respiratory system damage to adults, and major issues for babies, in or out of the womb. (Hear that, expecting mom-printmakers!? PUT DOWN THE MINERAL SPIRITS NOW!!!) As if basement/warehouse studio-working, perpetually ink-spattered, wild-eyed printmakers weren’t enough of an esoteric “clique”, most of us are probably desensitized to our personal brand of eau de turpentine and denatured alcohol musk. Which, besides not doing anything to liven up Friday nights, is also shaving years off of our lives and polluting the air/ground around us.

And why were we probably all taught to spend time with these nasty liquids in metal cans? Well, we need something pow’rful to clean up the heavy, oil-based inks we’re slathering on our letterpress rollers and the even MORE viscous compounds on our etching plates.

It’s a vicious cycle of habit and tradition that is bad for our health and the health of our environs. Unless you are working in a shop that has invested in a pretty serious filtration/drain system, most of these inks and solvents are going down the drain or in the trash. And I don’t need to re-tell the denouement of The American Trash Narrative, to be sure.

When planning the printshop for the Tamworth Lyceum, we were sure that these VOCs were NOT part of the game plan. The alternative? A relatively new concept on the printshop scene: The careful research and experimentation required for the operation of an Eco-Friendly Shop. Some European printmakers in the 1980′s were going this route. In the US, there are only a handful of shops with a non-toxic mission statement, but more shops and printmakers are joining in! The Lyceum Printshop will be utilizing new non-toxic and/or natural methods and products to print and clean, most of which wash away with soap and water. We will also engage in common sense environmental practices, like choosing recycled paper stocks whenever possible, reusing/recycling/upcycling our waste paper, and selecting vendors nearby to manage our carbon footprint of shipping costs/fuel (Hellooo, Monadnock Paper Mills!)

Water-based inks and dyes, vegetable-based cleaning agents, and natural solvents (soybean oil, citrus) will be used. Using these products and methods may result in increased cleanup time and effort (more scrubbing action), and adjusting workflow to print in multiple, short runs to accommodate for a shorter drying time on the inks. HOWEVER, this is an absolutely negligible trade-off for keeping our aquifers clean and our neurotransmitters happy, don’t you think?

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For more about our latest project in Tamworth, New Hampshire, please visit TAMWORTHLYCEUM.COM