From the late 1970's to the early 1980's many artists took advantage of the cheap rents and large spaces in the commercial centre of Melbourne. A hot spot with a high density of artists' studios centered around Little Bourke St and Hardware St. Fashion designer Jenny Bannister had a studio in Hardware House and long term resident of bohemian Melbourne, Mirka Mora lived in Rankins Lane. It was during this period, when I had a studio in the area, that I became interested in alternative art practice.

 

This interest fortunately co-incided with organistions such as RMIT Union Press Poster Workshop advocating the use of screen printing as a community activism tool and employing an artist to both teach these skills and produce in-house work for Union activities. The printmaker Wendy Black was employed by the workshop and I became acquainted with her because she rented a studio space across the street from my mine. When Wendy decided to travel to Europe she asked me if I would be interested in running the workshop in her absence. The workshop was in a central campus location and students were encouraged to become involved in its activities. One regular visitor was Mark Worth, the late documentary film maker.

 

The Ides of March and Artist in Residence posters make use of a 'Punk' aesthetic of raw industrial colours and poor colour registration. The theory was to give the work an unrefined do-it-yourself look even though I had been taught as a technician for commercial printers to produce high quality work. The fonts were similarly often hand drawn with a cavalier disregard for punctuation and capitalisation. These values with their implication of street credibility and rock 'n roll attitude are still very much in currency today. Technically the posters use three of the four process colours but unlike the commercial process the image wasn't photomechanically separated. This meant I had only the vaguest idea of the outcome - which in typical printmaker fashion often causes delight because of the unexpected results. 

 

Both posters depict the city as a site of vibrant activity. The view from my studio was of the high rise Melbourne central business district and I found the exploration of such imagery irresistible for my fine art prints and felt that the theme was relevant for the posters as well. The Artist in Residence poster uses an image found in the collection of an informal photo archivist at the university. It was a feat simply to find this man's tiny dungeon like repository on a campus the size of a small city. The Ides of March is actually a cheat because the streetscape depicted is in Berlin and not Swanston St, the main thoroughfare through RMIT. Both the lack of neon in the area and my lack of night photography expertise made the use of the actual site inconvenient so I chose to borrow an image from a architecture book instead.

 

The Ides of March poster was used in the Australian film Dogs in Space, which starred Michael Hutchence. The film told the story of an alternative shared house in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond and it is entirely conceivable that a member of the 'real' household may have originally stolen the poster from the walls of RMIT. The Union Press staff were always pleased with a high theft rate because it indicated a successful design.

 

I don't remember the circumstances which led to the production of the first Melbourne Fringe Festival poster other than it was printed by volunteers at Red Letter Press in Brunswick. The production, as much else to do with that event, was chaotic and I recollect squeezing in the listing of 'Urban Skinner', a single issue combative publication I worked on, as one of the sponsors, even though it had nothing to do with the event. Likewise, a now famous comedian / radio personality who agreed to perform was bumped off because we did not approve of this man's naked self promotion. I chose an image of performance artist Z'ev, depicted playing percussion on a giant steel spring and a chorus line from the Olivia Newton John film, Xanadu, as representative of the multi-disciplinary nature of the event. The lettering represented what was then an art form in its infancy - spray can graffiti.

 

The Victorian Artworkers Union newsletter was also printed and collated by volunteers; my role was co-ordinator and designer of the screen printed components. I was barely aware of the growing 'zine movement which was typically a meme like movement very much associated with the late 1970's to the mid 1980's. The newsletter nonetheless fits the concept; the typographic breaking of rules, mismatched paper types, murky graphics and the employment of easily accessible printing technologies. At a national Artworkers Union conference, the art historian and curator, Charles Merewether, questioned the use of such a aesthetic for the Union because of its cultural associations. The speed with which all the copies were collected by members provided a mute answer.

 

Richard Horvath

February 2009