Following a 36-hour print marathon by 25 people, The Human Printer has unveiled its hand-crafted print of a Minecraft sunset in the Art Tank at Selfridges London.
Part of State of the Arts, where Selfridges is bringing art to unexpected places around its stores, the window display pays homage to the sandbox video game.
But what exactly is The Human Printer? Well, it was set up in 2009 by Louise Naunton Morgan, who is now part of graphic design studio Stinsensqueeze with Stina Pariente Gromark, to print digital images by hand.
The idea is that they take the structure of the printing process commonly used by graphic designers and replicate it by using humans. It's "as a way to comment upon the soulless homogenisation brought about by the digitalisation on the world," explains Louise.
"One hundred and seventy years on from the Industrial Revolution, we are now at the beginning of 'the scientific revolution' where the systems which currently define our lives are being made ever more efficient and accurate," Louise continues. "These refined technologies, resulting in a new age of surveillance, challenge our modes of self-expression and freedom."
So if the purpose is to go back to what's made by hand, remembering the very crafts that we started with, how does The Human Printer actually work? "Our team of 'humans' follow the same process as a digital printer and we assume the role of the machine and are controlled and restricted by the process of using CMYK halftones created on a computer."
As well as producing any print you want, The Human Printer also offers live printing events, workshops and one-off projects. Discover more: thehumanprinter.org.
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