By Hannah Truby
Black Rock Press is a unique place. Both an independent publishing entity and a program under the University of Nevada’s Department of Art, the Press explores the evolving nature of the book, and asks what a book can be. Although housed at my alma mater, I only discovered Black Rock a couple weeks back when I was invited to tour it.
At Black Rock, they treat the book as a unique object where form can amplify content, the Book & Publication Arts program encourages students to design their books however they dream up. As you’ll see in the images below, the creative possibilities are endless.
I walk the space with its Managing Director, Meg Pohold. "Unless an assignment has certain material or size requirements, there's really no limits," she says. "The value is very much in the creating."
Old Geiger Grade: Inspired by Geiger Grade Road and the history of the Comstock, the book places readers in the steep, dangerous terrain of the 1860s as they travel to Virginia City where they hope their fortunes might be found.
Black Rock Press Managing Director Meg Pohold unfolds a piece made by a previous student.
SHALL is an accordion bound artist book and poem made from rubbings of the Newlands Monument in Newlands Circle in Reno, Nevada.
Though primarily an arts studio, the Press also functions as a working museum. Among its historic technology collection is an 1837 super royal Columbian—a gilded iron handpress that is twice my size and considered one of the finest examples in the United States. The super-royal size (21 x 28 inches at the plate) Columbian is made of 2400 pounds of wrought and cast iron.
Examples of previous student work
Opposum.png by Jeff Thompson: In 1995, a group of strangers assembled online to develop what would become the PNG file format. One of the first images to be encoded in this new format was a pixelated photograph of an opossum, taken by programmer and PNG contributor Glenn Randers-Pehrson. The entire contents of this photograph are presented in a 968-page book listed in the various formats required to be read by a computer.
Print isn't dead, and Black Rock is one of those places that remind you so. Print is thriving. Why? Because when it's done well--with care and effort--it's beautiful. And it stands out among the digital.
Follow Black Rock Press on Instagram for the latest book arts creations and updates on community events.
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