online: 28 september 2020
modified: 28 september 2020

12 july 2020 trying new things (to be printed in gill sans)


news of Annetta Pedretti . . .

i am sorry to hear that Annetta has died . . . a loss to all of us who knew her and those of us who did not . . .

i am remembering now her house in East London which is not a residence but a workplace . . . and a piece of art . . . i am remembering the many books that were published and printed at princelet editions and also the Pirated Editions of Edwin Schlossberg and others . . . all on an A6 format . . .

she wasn't just a printer or publisher but a truly multi talented person who made everything she touched into a work of art . . . and more . . . in the manner of John Ruskin but she might not like the comparison . . .

asking myself which of her many activities which could be described here . . . although describing a thing might be seen in the light of her philosophical theories as invalid!

what comes to my memory is the way she challenged everything she came across . . . sometimes with anger, sometimes with humour . . . and always with tremendous energy at taking over anything which might assist her work . . . for instance i remember one day when she was passing a print shop in the East End . . . she walked into the print shop and started using some of the machinery there without any permission and making better use than the printer was . . . it was cheeky but forgivable in such a person with larger aims . . .

what has come to me recently is the idea that when someone dies it is because the body has become too weak . . . but that the spirit can continue in these fine manifestations of the spirit . . . in such things as books, publications, constructions, skyscrapers and all systems . . . this idea puts death into the category of spiritual existence . . . this is not a loss but a gain . . .

to the carers of the house: my suggestion for the house is to start an association for people trying new things . . . these imaginary initiators are a collaborative (like the Foundry) . . .


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