NEWLIGHTS PRESS MISSION STATEMENT (revised, again)

Fig. 12.08.04
Binding tools, after 2 days of use in a gallery.

The NewLights Press is an independent printer & publisher of experimental literature and artists’ books, concentrating on where the two can and do overlap. All of the books (so far) are printed & bound “by hand,” using a variety of different techniques, ranging from the obsolete (letterpress) to the utilitarian (laser printing). We try to maintain inclusive (& purposefully problematic) definitions of such mutable terms as “experimental literature,” “artists books,” and “printing techniques,” and to be similarly inclusive in the types of books that we produce (Chapbooks, Fine Print Editions, Do-It-Yourself Books, & Artists Books), in an attempt to allow the different kinds of production to merge, separate, and converse with one another. We believe in the actual use value of art objects as tools or channels for individuals & communities to articulate their thoughts, identities and roles, which leads us to support engaged, critical cultural production, be it individual or collaborative, dreadfully serious or dreadfully funny; and we try to do our part in making sure that spaces for alternative vision remain available to producers and receivers alike. We represent only one of the many meeting points of a vital and diverse community of active, thoughtful people, and our work would mean nothing without that community. The production of books is our own way of telling the rest of the world that we believe in them. Currently, the only items on the Press’s Five Year Plan are: MAKE BOOKS. MAKE MAKING BOOKS COUNT.

Next Episode: That old bookarts downfall—definitions!