Jan 17th 2020

Danielle Aubert will discuss “The Detroit Printing Co-op: The Politics of the Joy of Printing.” She will be in conversation with Chloe Watlington. A Q&A and signing will follow the discussion.

At the Co-op

About the book: In 1969, shortly after moving to Detroit, Lorraine and Fredy Perlman and a group of kindred spirits purchased a printing press from a defunct militant printer and the Detroit Printing Co-op was born. The Co-op would print the first English translation of Guy Debord’s “Society of the Spectacle” and journals like Radical America, formed by the Students for a Democratic Society; books such as “The Political Thought of James Forman” printed by the League of Revolutionary Black Workers; and the occasional broadsheet.

Fredy Perlman was not a printer or a designer by training, but was deeply engaged in ideas, issues, processes, and the materiality of printing. His exploration of overprinting, collage techniques, varied paper stocks, and other experiments underscores the pride of craft behind these calls to action and class consciousness.

Building on in-depth research conducted by Danielle Aubert, a Detroit-based designer, educator, and the author of “Thank you for the view, Mr. Mies,” this book explores the history, output and legacy of the Perlmans and the Co-op in a highly illustrated testament to the power of printing, publishing, design, and distribution.

About the author: Danielle Aubert is a graphic designer whose work examines materials, methods of production, machines and labor. She is the author of “Marking the Dispossessed” (2015: Passenger Books) and “16 Months Worth of Drawings in Microsoft Excel” (2006: Various Projects). She is co-author, with Lana Cavar and Natasha Chandani, of “Thanks for the View, Mr. Mies” (2012: Metropolis Books). Her new book, “The Detroit Printing Co-op,” is published by Inventory Press.

About the interlocutor: Chloe Watlington is the Associate Editor of Commune Magazine. Her writing can be found there and in The Baffler, Teen Vogue, and The New Republic.

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