"ストップコロナ(STOP CORONA), STAY SAFE AND KEEP YOUR DISTANCE" - THE NINETEEN
In and around Hackney Wick and Stoke Newington, letterpress posters have started to appear alerting the public to ‘ストップコロナ’(STOP CORONA), STAY SAFE AND KEEP YOUR D I S T A N C E’. This project is the work of Stephen Kelly (The Printer’s Devil Letterpress) and Phillip Marshall (&Create Design Agency) who have collaborated to form, The Nineteen.
The Nineteen was born through the many creatives who suddenly found themselves with exhibitions cancelled, projects postponed and vital income cancelled for the foreseeable future. The project will showcase poster designs from 19 creatives from very different industries, with each poster being sold for £19. The individuals in the launch include fashion designers, fine artists, illustrators, jewellery designers and motorcycle designers to name a few. Each poster will be hand printed, with the launch date to be confirmed following successful proofing that is currently ongoing.
The Nineteen plan to paste all 19 posters together for the public to interact with, to engage with the movement of the gallery space to become public. At the moment, you are still able to see some of the original posters dotted around East London but some are being taken down by local councils despite promoting social distancing.
The Printer’s Devil is a letterpress studio based in Hackney Wick, that has collaborated with Uniqlo, Paul Smith and Full Count Japan. The studio was impacted more than ‘a month before it all kicked off here’ as international collaborations began to put on the breaks. Upcoming exhibitions such as NIKO AND taking place in Japan over March and April was cancelled. As well as, the Victoria and Albert Museum’s Alice and Wonderland exhibition that should be going ahead in June 2020 still in question.
Phillip Marshall from &Create has seen their work stream reduce significantly since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak with only a few projects ongoing, as many clients and shops closed their doors to the public. Following a recovery from coronavirus, Phillip joined forces with Stephen to assist and create a new revenue stream for many who now have to create new revenue streams.
Unagilife provides useful recommendations for those inspired by Japanese aesthetic and lifestyle. What would you recommend to our readers?
Stephen: Maybe try one of the ceramics courses and visit V&A Japanese room. Japan House is great to for real Japanese feeling - the shop actually feels like you are in japan.. it’s all so neat and the products are so incredibly well made. Also the Japanese Gallery is good for ukiyo-e prints. You can buy a really nice print for less than £200.
The current ‘ストップコロナ’(STOP CORONA), STAY SAFE AND KEEP YOUR D I S T A N C E’ poster can be purchased at The Printer’s Devil or The Nineteen and each poster is handprinted on 110 gsm Milkweed paper.
For a future souvenir for these strange and uncertain times, keep an eye out for the upcoming launch on The Nineteen.
Artist Victor Solomon recently repaired a run down LA basketball court using the Japanese technique of Kintsugi. The transformed basketball court now has the many cracks filled in with gold dusted resin inspired by the ancient process, titled Kintsugi Court. Kintsugi (金継ぎ, "golden joinery") is a technique that emphasises an object’s repair with gold to give prominence to its journey.