Hi all, a quick update to showcase the printing of yet another poster, this time by the hand of Tom Nicholson, artist and writer, currently based in Melbourne.

Click on the image to enlarge
cheerio

We had an exciting week at BFP as we printed up some wonderful maps for an exhibition at UTS. The show is called Mapping Sydney. We printed maps by Jane Shadbolt, Kate Sweetapple, and Naomi Stead+Katrina Schlunke+Trina Day – all on nice archival paper – and we were delighted with the results.

Here’s some more info on the show.

The above video (thanks Jessie!) shows Lucas and Kate printing Jane’s amazing experiential map of the inner-west. It’s a two colour job with built areas (and green parks) completely chock-filled with text (18000 words on one sheet of paper!) and roads blank.

Here’s another shot of Jane’s map:

Kate’s map is a wonderful poetic (and odd) geo-locating of all the folks in Sydney who have bird-related surnames. She got her info from the white pages. Here’s an image of her map:

More photos here of this print run… More to come: images of Naomi+Katrina+Trina’s work…

ps – here’s an article in the Sydney Morning Herald about the project…

[photo thanks to Lauren from She Sees Red. More photos here.]

A month or so ago I visited the Melbourne Museum of Printing. This terrific letterpress emporium is a “working museum” – a really interesting concept – a kind of techno-heritage project, where it is essential to keep the machines rolling in order to understand them properly. A non-functioning printing press is much less educational than one where you can make up your own poster!

Warren from the Narrows took me down there. He helped me make a great die-cast letter block (not sure of correct terminology) of the Big Fag Press (see the photo below).

Now, the museum is in danger of going belly up. Due to its generous practice of saving old machines, the 5 warehouses of great stuff now cost more money in rent than can be afforded. So a gang of young print enthusiasts, including Warren, got together to try and save the museum itself. They had a fundraising day last Sunday, where 22 artists (including me) were invited to make a print on the letterpress machines. These were limited-editioned and sold to make some rent-cash.

You can see some of the prints over here. Contact the MMOP via that website if you’d like to buy one. Hopefully some detailed photos will go up soon so you know what you’re splashing out on!

cheers
Lucas from BFP

ps – check out the MMOP’s old website – I think it is a stunning analogous “site” – not dissimilar to the warehouses full of old machines. Treasures to be found, if you are willing to rummage!

For all you online-buying fanatics out there, you can now order BIG FAG merch right here! After our first edition of bright green/black/silver Big Fag Press Brochure-Posters sold out in a trice, we did a second edition of 120 (individually numbered) in hot pink/black/silver.

Click here to see the “poster” side of the print, featuring the amazing silver and black image of the press itself, mounted by our mascot, Sydney’s biggest fag, Faggot Rooster…

…and the photo above shows the “brochure” side complete with all the details of the press, its history, how to get involved, and the tech specs if you’d like to prepare an image for the machine… Click here to see each page of the brochure in detail.

Get ‘em while they’re hot, folks! You can order them in “natty folded brochure style” in a flat pack envelope, or “pristine rolled poster style” in a tube…

Only AUD$30.00 plus postage to wherever you are in the world.

email us: info@bigfagpress.org to order one. Tell us where you are in the world, whether you want rolled or folded, and we will tell you how much to pay us…

…here are deposit details:

Encompass Credit Union
acc name: Fag Press
acc # 82888
bsb: 802184

Throw Shapes, an online culture zine, has featured the Big Fag Press in its latest issue. You can read the article – cum – interview with Lucas and Kernow here. Please take any glorified or potentially silly statements we make with a grain of salt, woncha??

It also features news on the exciting new addition to the family, the Fagette, the BFP’s little sister.

The Fagette Duplicator, recently acquired “little sister of the big fag press” was launched last week at the LiveZine Printacular Event.

The night was a big success, we raised some sorely-needed funds to go towards paying off the machine, and a hilarious evening was had by all. See more pictures here.

The above picture shows Pam and Michael from Imagetec showing Sarah the ropes on the new riso machine. Imagetec sold us the printer, and have been super-supportive in helping us get it up and running, not to mention showering us with free accessories.

Incidentally, if anyone is interested and inspired to get involved, the Fagette still needs fund-injections to help get it on its feet. Please do get in touch if you’d like to give or lend us some cash to support DIY printing in Sydney!

The BIG FAG PRESS now has a little sister, the Fagette Duplicator. Where the BIG FAG is optimised for slowness, and bigness, the Fagette is super for quick and small. What’s more, it’s easy to use, and prints in a glorious array of multi-colour. Ya gotta see this baby in operation! Which brings us to…

The Fagette LiveZINE Spectacular!

Fagette LiveZINE – making the stage a page! The LiveZINE is an infotainment printacular – with audience and presenters alike contributing to an instantaneously published magazine. Expect to be entertained, challenged, inspired, and take home your own copy of the LiveZINE at the end of the night!

The LiveZINE brings together performers, pop music samplers, cartoonists, zinesters, big minds and the terminally curious for a huge night of entertainment. Come one, come all!

Come and join us on the PACT Theatre bleachers. Make history!

Print where no printer has ever dared to print before!

17th June PACT Theatre.
107 Railway Pde Erskineville
Tues 17 June 2008, 8pm
$7 and cheap drinks!
www.fagette.net

Vancouver artist Geoffrey Farmer has just printed up a limited edition of poster prints on the Big Fag Press, entitled “Cockatoo Clock”.

It’s a poster for a sort of “fictional play” which happens (or maybe doesn’t happen) within the wall cavities of the Museum of Contermporary Art. The poster will be part of an installation at the MCA for the 2008 Sydney Biennale.

This was a 2 colour print, solid yellow with solid black overprinting, and a little cockatoo image in the bottom right hand corner. We printed an edition on fabriano paper, and a further small set of prints were done on heavy gloss coated stock.

See some more images of the print in progress, and the finished product…

Backgammon Saloon
8pm TUES 3rd June ‘08
Sydney, 302 Cleveland Street, Sth West Surry Hills

The backgammon Saloon is a super fun night with lots of backgammon, consuming a whole bunch of alcohol (or turkish tee if you dont want to drink) and an outlandish performance. We’ve made a whole lot of screenprinted backgammon boards, a rules of play instruction sheet and also made backgammon pieces by spray painting beer caps for the evening.

There will be backgammon sets and tshirts for sale on the evening to raise money for the Fagette Duplicator!

For more information see below for a description of the Fagette Duplicator. Also be sure to check out the SYDNEY website http://www.officialsydney.com and the Fagette Duplicator site http://www.fagette.net

The Fagette Duplicator: Little sister of The Big Fag, and the bastard child of social media!

The Fagette is a ’stencil press’ that prints a unique and beautiful quality. Stencil presses are best known to most of us through the old Gestetner machines that once sat in the offices of our schools before the photocopier came along. These machines are still used in many schools and churches however the technology has dramatically improved. Stencil presses are now digital, multi-colour, high definition, and incredibly fast, making them ideal for just-in-time, fast, and easy printed matter. From book-making to printing zines, posters and flyers, The Fagette Duplicator will deliver again and again and again – and again.
The Fagette IS social media involving arts-anti-heroes, metropolitan activists, underground writers, urban researchers, garage rockers and self-publishers of all walks.

The home of The Fagette is Little Fish Gallery at 22 Enmore Rd. Come by and have a look!

http://www.fagette.net

The launch of our big brochure was a big success! We sold out of our “first printing” brochures, with a list of orders for the second printing. They are now available so contact us if you would like to buy one (they are ten dollars each, and feature a bonus B1 sized collectable poster -see images above and below).

Meanwhile, the brochure is online page by page as images here. Click on each page to advance forward.