Kate Morrell

2021
One colour spot-printing, coil bound,
die-cut polycarbonate cover.
Edition of 200.
21 x 26 cm, 88 pages.
Co-published by Lodret Vandret
and Pleats (UK)
ISBN 978-87-92988-25-6

€ 21.00

‘THE WORK OF THE HAND AND THE MIND’ is in-part a typeface specimen, a visual poetry exercise and a drawing workbook. It presents two variations of a display typeface: CIRC, developed using a technical drawing stencil. This exercise in hand-drawn type connects the poetic and typographic through elliptical, fragmented texts.

‘THE WORK OF THE HAND…’ formed from the artist’s research within the photographic ‘archive’ and business records at Eks Skolens Trykkeri (Ex School Printing), a worker run print co-operative in Copenhagen. Eks Skolens was founded in the late 1960s as an experimental art school and exists in the same building today, operating now as a commercial offset printer – ‘THE WORK OF THE HAND…’ is printed on their litho press. The book joins constellations of research touching upon: the acceleration and resistance of late 20th century digital technologies, primitive word processors (IBM), the divisions of time and labour and of collective working.

The die-cut cover functions as a drawing stencil and readers are invited to put CIRC into use – duplication and dissemination are encouraged. ‘THE WORK OF THE HAND…’ looks towards artists’ self publishing for ways to connect and circulate ideas in printed form, during a period in which immaterial and digital circulation is the default.

CIRC uses Mudejar display type by Jean Larcher as a skeleton for the alphabet, adapted and reworked with a drawing stencil and the addition of glyphs.

The book has been acquired by Tate and is held in their Artists’ Books collection. It was also nominated for the Prix Bob Calle 2023 – European artists’ book award.