There Will be Printing in the Streets, live at OCAD October 22

Printopolis, the Toronto-wide international symposium of contemporary printmaking touched down at Butterfield Park, the outdoor space under Will Alsop's avant garde addition to the Ontario College of Art & Design on Friday, October 22. There Will be Printing in the Street, a printing/sculpture/performance event attracted an enthusiastic crowd of printing fans, art students, neighbours and passers-by.

Drive-By Press, an art and design collective, demonstrated wood block prints on T-shirts and audience members' own clothing using the steam-powered press operated out of their mobile studio/van. Drive-By used wood and lino-block designs of various artists including those of Sketch, an arts program for street kids.

The highlight of the show was the demonstration by Eric Fuertes, a Texas native and graduate student in sculpture at Northern Illinois University.

Fuertes began by liberally inking a wood block. The prepared block was placed on a rubber mat on the ground and paper applied on top. A protective cloth followed.

Then the fun began. Using a custom hand-operated forklift, Fuertes placed one of his whimsical but weighty sculptures -- in this instance the Dumbo Press -- on top of the wood block and paper.

An audience member climbed aboard and rocked, to the whoops and cheers of the delighted crowd.

The sculpture was then removed, the cloth taken away, and -- to oohs and aahs -- the freshly pressed print revealed.

Fuertes also brought his funky flying-saucer/skateboard sculpture "UFO Press" to the event, which Fuertes demonstrates in the video below.

Printopolis continues at various venues around Toronto to October 24, 2010. For details of other scheduled events check the website here.

All photos Louise Morin