This project was full of little surprising challenges, but it was also satisfying to come upon each one. Creating the stamps was the trickiest part because it required the most technical expertise. I chose to make the letters all capitals for the word “bread”, which made them much easier to cut out, and more durable for stamping. The letter “A” stamp was the most satisfying in part because of it was easy to cut and looked interesting. I would want to make an alphabet based on an easy and durable design. Lamb and McCormick (2020b) show how two opposing motivations existed in print technology: reducing costs of production and maintaining elitism of the resulting texts. Mass production of books increased readership, which undermined the traditional privilege that came with literacy (Lamb & McCormick, 2020a).

When I finished the second stamping, I was dissatisfied with being done. I realized that I had invested time and care into creating the stamps and learning how to use them well, which meant I was proud of my work, and disappointed that the work was over. The result was at once satisfying and inconsequential because the text and technology were impermanent, which evoked Lamb & McCormick’s (2020a) question: is it a form of media if it has no audience? The word “BREAD” printed five times on a page (I indulged) left my son wondering what I was up to. I also realized that I hadn’t even thought about the paper I took from a stack and put on top of a grocery store flyer. We are removed from the complex and destructive process of mass paper production: We consider it to be cheap, plentiful, and disposable. It is a far cry from the costly and challenging traditional processes of text production.

References

Robert Lamb, R. & McCormick, J. (Hosts). (2020, May 26) The invention of the book, part 1 [Audio podcast episode]. In Stuff to blow your mind. iHeartRadio. https://www.iheart.com/podcast/stuff-to-blow-your-mind

Robert Lamb, R. & McCormick, J. (Hosts). (2020, May 28) The invention of the book, part 2 [Audio podcast episode]. In Stuff to blow your mind. iHeartRadio. https://www.iheart.com/podcast/stuff-to-blow-your-mind