Carbon was the name of the game again this summer as production continued on this growing project. This summer I was joined by Ellen Martin-Friel and Mikah Smillie and we didn't waste any time getting stuck into the second layer of the book; the carbon drawings. After sourcing the ingredients for some experimental inks to be made from carbon rich and climate appropriate materials (diamond, coal, charcoal, car exhaust and chimney soot, dulse (dillisk, palmaria palmata), lampblack, graphite, peat and candle smoke) we got stuck into preparing the 'pigments'. This involved burning, petrifying, grinding etc. The result was very, very fine powders (protective masks required) that we could then mix with gum arabic and water to form workable liquid solutions. Each ink resulted in a very unique texture and colour. The next step was to trial mark making tools and to experiment with which delivery method suited each ink best. If the text in the book can be viewed as a large, all encompassing macro interpretation of the Carbon theme, these drawings make an effort to symbolise the microscopic. I see each of the nine drawings as abstract representations of their base ingredient, the carbon rich material itself. The idea of carbon being constant but ever changing has been on my mind since beginning to research for this book and I decided to work with ever expanding polygon shapes to represent the constant shifting nature of this element. By now I had decided to make the drawings from pochoirs so I had these shapes laser cut in a polymer material and from these I could begin to work on a method of production. In the editioning the nine designs we would make about 800 pochoirs, most of them with two layers of carbon ink, one of them produced from candle smoke. We then turned our attention to painting the covers for the numbered edition and the accompanying black paper volume (second layer) that accompanies the lettered edition. Again a large polymer mask was made and after some experimentation we honed in on using two inks; diamond and graphite. A large Chinese style brush worked perfectly for the aesthetic I had in mind. Following the weeks of production we then laid out the sheets and gave each design several layers of artist fixative (masks on again), helping to stabilise the inks and prevent rub off.

Another job to complete this summer was the printing of the ephemeral material to be contained in the portfolio (third layer) that accompanies the lettered edition. The role of this portfolio is to present some findings from our research into the effects of the human impact on carbon and what that means for the planet. It also afforded me the opportunity to reach into my paper collection and work with some very beautiful, and conceptually relevant, examples; Zerkall Ingres (RIP), Rives Arches, Velin Cuve (1970s), Bachelor's Kelmscott (1930s), Saunders Waterford, Hahnemühle Bugra-Bütten, paper made by C. Taylor (handmade in the 1770s, early industrial revolution) and others. Lastly we printed the materials index for the fourth layer in the lettered edition; the carbon materials from which we made the inks. These will be contained in little glass vials and housed in dark recesses that will be CNC cut into this base layer. Printed on the black paper which itself contains diamond and graphite in the recipe.

A note re binding: The books are folded and collated and packaged awaiting binding. Marc Hammonds who was originally going to bind the project changed his studio's creative direction and is no longer available. This news came over a year ago so I've had time to find a new collaborator, and one closer to home; Pascal Flynn at Antiquarian Bookcrafts took up the challenge and was unphased by the large undertaking. Unfortunately, a recent health concern in his team has meant that he, too, is no longer available. I'm currently talking with a fabulous UK based binder of much repute, and it looks like he will be available to bind the project later this year, with a view to launching early next year, a mere three years later than originally planned. Phew.

The prospectus for CARBON was completed just ahead of Codex VIII, and it was very well received over the four days of the book fair. The type is letterpress printed from the new woodletter and the paper is taken from the 260kg of custom watermarked Velké Losiny handmade that is intended for the project. The measure is 420mm x 300mm approx (as the book will be), 16 pages.

Carbon is the basis for all life on earth, and the harbinger of our demise. In this hypnotic prose poem / essay Jessica Traynor (Liffey Swim, 2015 and A Modest Proposal, 2017) contemplates this element in its many forms, following a meteor’s flight, picking through WWII bombsites, visiting geodesic domes, seventeenth century laboratories, Plato’s cave, and pushing ever deeper below the earth’s crust in search of wild spirits, and the black lake at the heart of all things.

Inspired by the aesthetics of hand-typed scientific reports and woodtype printed protest posters, Jamie Murphy has interpreted the text by employing a new mono-spaced typeface developed specifically for this project in collaboration with type designer Bobby Tannam. In an effort to capture the materiality of the subject, evidence of carbon rich matter emerges throughout the book in the form of smoke, lampblack, soot, charcoal, peat, graphite and diamond.

Designed & letterpress printed by Jamie Murphy. The book will be typeset in six line (one inch high) Carbon Mono, a new woodletter designed for this book by Bobby Tannam, cut from end grain beech by Scott Cameron.

80 books will be bound by Marc Hammonds. 54 numbered copies on 200gsm handmade paper from the Losiny mill in goat & carbon painted paper over boards, housed in a solander box. 26 lettered copies on 200gsm Losiny handmade, bound in full (carbon altered) goat, accompanied by a second copy of the book on & in blackened, diamond infused 200gsm Losiny handmade paper, along with a portfolio of extra printed materials and artefacts, all presented in a cloth covered solander box.

Intended for publication in 2022. Please enquire for printed prospectus and pricing details.