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The Detroit Printing Co-op: The Politics of the Joy of Printing
In 1969, shortly after moving to Detroit, Lorraine and Fredy Perlman and a group of kindred spirits purchased a printing press from a defunct militant printer and the Detroit Printing Co-op was born. The Co-op would print the first English translation of Guy Debord’s Society of the Spectacle and journals like Radical America, formed by the Students for a Democratic Society; books such as The Political Thought of James Forman printed by the League of Revolutionary Black Workers; and the occasional broadsheet, such as Judy Campbell’s stirring indictment, “Open letter from ‘white bitch’ to the black youths who beat up on me and my friend.”
Fredy Perlman was not a printer or a designer by training, but was deeply engaged in ideas, issues, processes, and the materiality of printing. His exploration of overprinting, collage techniques, varied paper stocks, and other experiments underscores the pride of craft behind these calls to action and class consciousness.
Building on in-depth research conducted by Danielle Aubert, a Detroit-based designer, educator, and the author of Thank you for the view, Mr. Mies, this book explores the history, output and legacy of the Perlmans and the Co-op in a highly illustrated testament to the power of printing, publishing, design, and distribution.
Fredy Perlman was not a printer or a designer by training, but was deeply engaged in ideas, issues, processes, and the materiality of printing. His exploration of overprinting, collage techniques, varied paper stocks, and other experiments underscores the pride of craft behind these calls to action and class consciousness.
Building on in-depth research conducted by Danielle Aubert, a Detroit-based designer, educator, and the author of Thank you for the view, Mr. Mies, this book explores the history, output and legacy of the Perlmans and the Co-op in a highly illustrated testament to the power of printing, publishing, design, and distribution.
240 pages, Paperback
Published November 19, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 11, 2020
This book is more about the aesthetics of printed publications from the co-op than the ideas contained within. It gives bland lip-service to describing the writings while going on and on about the printing processes involved. Don't get me wrong–I'm giving the book a couple stars because of the quality and number of pictures included. The written content, however, is a total wash.
April 14, 2020
The subtitle of The Detroit Printing Co-op captures the richness of its subject: The Politics of the Joy of Printing.
Politics - in the sense of anarchy, communalism, independence and interdependence. Joy - the pleasures derived from the ability to express oneself in one's life and work. And Printing - in this case a shared act of tradecraft and social movement, industry and radical philosophy.
The Detroit Printing Co-op as a material artifact reflects to a great extent the world it describes. Generously illustrated, graphically stimulating, it immerses the reader in the cultural and historical context of creative people experimenting with visual designs that feel in sync with the ideas they contain.
Politics - in the sense of anarchy, communalism, independence and interdependence. Joy - the pleasures derived from the ability to express oneself in one's life and work. And Printing - in this case a shared act of tradecraft and social movement, industry and radical philosophy.
The Detroit Printing Co-op as a material artifact reflects to a great extent the world it describes. Generously illustrated, graphically stimulating, it immerses the reader in the cultural and historical context of creative people experimenting with visual designs that feel in sync with the ideas they contain.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews