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'Engulf : Deplete' series
2 : Coal 2024 The 'Engulf : Deplete' series is a trilogy of books about sources of energy around my home and studio. They consider the power that our species has harnessed and the risks that process poses to us. The first iteration was 'Water' and the second is 'Coal'. (The final part - 'Oil' - will be published in 2026.) Why coal? For hundreds of years, coal was dug from the moor above Todmorden, the town where I live and work. Intermittently, yes, and at a very localised level, perhaps not hugely commercialised or industrialised, but when it was useful and people were motivated to work it. My understanding is that a group of local farmers were the last people to extract material during the mid-late 20th Century. The result is that the moor is marked by a confusing array of tracks, mounds, pits, adits and so on that often bear no relation to each other. One piece of evidence will conflict with another because they were mined hundreds of years apart. The book features poetic fragments related to this story alongside graphic elements using the materials of letterpress printing; metal spacing, mounting blocks and the back of new wood type, all of them squares of 72 points/6 picas (check your old letterpress apprenticeship textbooks), set in a grid to reflect on the process of decoding the moor's history. The book is hardback-bound in a cover that features multiple overprintings of that same grid. Each book in the series is an edition of 40 and is priced at £50. A limited number of full sets are also available at a discount price of £125. The first ('Water') and second ('Coal') books will ship now with the third and final ('Oil') to follow next summer. (Updates will be given, of course.) Edition: 40 Size: 30cm x 21cm (closed) Pages: 32 Stock: 160gsm South Bank Smooth Typefaces: Granby Extra Bold and Plantin Sewn book: 5mm spine, 5-hole pamphlet stitch, hardback covers |
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