Gocco Loco

Every week at BAD IDEA we receive bundles of artwork from talented illustrators and artists keen to impress, collaborate, or merely show us their wares. The vast majority come in the form of Inkjet prints, which are cheap for artists to reproduce and have the appearance of promotional flyers.

Nothing wrong with that, but the submissions that have caught our eye recently could not be further from the immaculate reproductions of digital mass production, and have been produced using a Japanese screen printing machine that goes by the name of Print Gocco. Print Gocco was originally manufactured in the late 70s to allow families to make greetings cards, back when a computer was still the size of a central London flat. The master artwork is lovingly created using carbon pens and then thermally imprinted on the screen using highly toxic flashbulbs, similar to those used by early paparazzi photographers. Although simple, the ritualistic nature of the printing process makes it feel like the most wonderful alchemy, and is made even more special by the fragility of the bulbs and screen, which can only be used only the once: so if you make a mistake, you’re screwed, as modifying in Photoshop or Edit Undo is not an option.

(Pic by Jez Burrows)

Once inked, the screens are ready to create dozens of intricate prints that are all ever so slightly different, depending on the amount of ink used, pressure applied and a good helping of chance.

(Ella Tamplin-Wilson)

For a long time now the future of Gocco has been uncertain: despite a cult following in the US and Australia, the Japanese market has almost entirely disappeared; Print Gocco’s parent company Riso Kaguku Corp., who primarily manufacture high-speed Inkjet printers, revealed that sales of Gocco machines have sunk to less than 1% of their annual group sales of 15.2 billion yen.

In response to suggestions that a Gocco printing domesday might occur, Portland resident and Gocco enthusiast Shu-Ju Wang established the campaign website savegocco.com in 2005. Since then Shu-Ju has collected the names of thousands of crafters desperate to see Riso continue producing the machine.

Earlier this year Riso finally announced that they were to discontinue shipments of the home printing machine in June 2008. Although savegocco.com has not stopped this from happening, the pressure they’ve put on Riso has ensured that the production of consumables such as inks and bulbs will continue for the foreseeable future. 

Just as Polaroid and mixtapes have come back into fashion, Gocco too is experiencing a frenzied renaissance since the announcement. The machines are snatched up from eBay in record time, and many designers are starting to differentiate between screen-printed and Gocco-crafted work, as the romance of an obsolete format has become immensely profitable. No-one apart from the suits at Riso know how long Gocco consumables will be available, making each machine and every print an endangered species. All the more reason to snaffle yourself a machine and craft yourself some Gocco screenprints while you still can.   

(Jez Burrows)

(Ella Tamplin-Wilson)

(Main thumbnail by Jake Blanchard)

Posted by Laura Snoad in Other | August 1, 2008 5:01PM |