THE WHAT YOU WILL PROSPECTICARD

Prospectus/Postcard for What You Will
Letterpress printed from photopolymer plates
4” x 6”
600 or so were printed
2010


It may not look like it on your screen, but there are actually three colors printed on this card: black, transparent gray, and opaque white. The white is really difficult to see on these scans, and you’ll never get to read the text sleeping inside it unless you sign up for the NewLights Press Analog Mailing List by emailing me (newlightspressATgmailDOTcom) your mailing address.

& a note about the books themselves: I will not be putting them on pre-sale, but I am currently taking “reservations.” So if you would like me to hold a copy for you (they will cost $20 by the way) send me an email at the address above.

FORM LETTER/LETTER FORM

Form Letter/Letter Form
Letterpress printed from photopolymer plates
8.5” x 11”
Unlimited edition (first printing: 402)
2009

Image shows front and back.

This is a form that is used for correspondence of the NewLights Press. It can be filled out by hand, with a typewriter, or with a computer. The original version was entirely digital, typed and printed on a computer. But we decided to add a more personal touch to our communication.

INSPECTOR, INSPECTOR

Figure 10.09.02
The NewLights Press Inspection Slip, shown front and back. Another free gift with every purchase.

Another cancerous extension of the Bureaucracy of One: the NewLights Press Inspection Slips. They are digitally printed forms that are cut down by hand and rubber stamped on the back. Before a book is packaged for shipping the slips are filled out and put inside the pages of the books, to be discovered by the owner/reader. The slips are a kind of social hand-mechanics, bringing that classic human-as-machine element back into these anonymous transactions.

ATTN: RECEIVING

This morning I put together and emailed a receipt for a recent purchase. Like the IDE(A/O)LOG(Y/UE) forms, the receipts/invoices are an integrated part of what the press does; they are functional-aesthetic objects that provide a record of the life and reach of the press. They are pre-designed forms that are filled out digitally and emailed and/or sent with books.

Fig. 10.09.01
The NewLights Press Purchase Record/Invoice, bringing a subtle disruption into even the most mundane interactions. Get one absolutely free with any purchase.

I definitely get a perverse enjoyment out of making these forms for myself. But there is more to it than that: A) It becomes a way of “performing” the role of publisher (the NewLights Press is a self-deconstructing institution) and B) as I get further and further into this thing, as more and more books are made and sent out into the world, it seems more urgent to somehow keep track of and preserve all of this information. When it all began, I sold pretty much all of the books directly (except a handful placed at the local bookstore), but now a fair amount are sold through this website, and they go off, faceless to a faceless destination.

I prefer to say thank you directly to the people who buy my books. These forms are a multi-threaded attempt to do that.

CYNICAL CONCEPTUAL PRACTICE #4: FORM VS. FUNCTION

Cynical Conceptual Practice #4: Form vs. Function
Found objects
2007