The Wake

Photo by Brian Aldrich

The fireworks crash, scattering between the city skyline and the river. It is the Fourth of July, 2007. There’s much excitement—the poetry spills in from the Mississippi river as it negotiates its way beyond the Army Corps of Engineers’ marvel of locks and cement waterfalls. This is the moment when Yes Press births from the ether, sparking three sentences that grace the first pressing, one from each friend: “The firework scares / the herons from / their young. It even / disrupts your heart / from here. Imagine / being in its midst / in a dirigible.”

Yes Press, an artistic postcard letterpress company, is the brainchild of Zachary Carlsen, Brian Aldrich and Eireann Lorsung. It resides not too far from where the fireworks first sent the muse. The place is Brian’s apartment, a classic Minneapolis brownstone that sits near the river. Brian recalls how Zachary and Eireann came to his door saying, “We’re going to do this now” altogether disregarding the size of his quaint apartment, which already doubles as his work and living space.

The three friends each bring their own creative force to the project. Zachary has experience in printing, bookmaking and poetry. He also works with Gendun Editions, another local letterpress company. Brian, an artist, designer and printmaker also offers fine letterpress materials through his other creative endeavor, Boiled Art Editions. Eireann is a poet, designer and dressmaker who is a year removed from Milkweed Editions’ release of her first book of poetry, Music For Landing Planes By.

In a digital age, the process of editing, designing and pressing continues on its path as a dying romance—not to say that the desire to own and press is in itself dying—but that the disconnect between generations leaves many workable presses lying on the streets waiting to be picked up or sent to the dump. Others may sit for years collecting dust in garages or basements, their owners unable to find the means to accessing suitable owners. According to Brian, one of the biggest difficulties is the communication between buyer and seller. Many of the individuals that are in possession are of an older generation, who may not necessarily know where to go, or just how valuable their equipment really is. “Some people may give them away for nothing, while others would give their life to own one.”

Yes Press operates on a 6″ x 9″ Chandler and Price Pilot Press, acquired from the University of Minnesota’s Art Department after they moved to the new art building and phased out letterpress. According to Brian, the type of press is a platen press. “This means the whole image is pressed against the paper at one time.” Because of its overall size, (20” x 26” x 30”) it utilizes very little space, taking up just over a third of the desk that it operates on.

Their craft focuses on the limitless nature of language and its ability to take on so many forms. Zachary’s passion derives primarily from his early years attending the University of Minnesota, where he became “infected” with the process of using typeface to bring his poems and stories to life, having done full-length books as well as literary fine press books. He considers the process of pressing a “synthesis of art and language.” Rather than typing it up and designing it on a computer, the process is more intimate. Each card begins with a conversation about the text, which has been up to this point an original work of poetry. The selection process happens two ways. Each poem is either submitted or solicited. After a poem is selected, the three begin discussing design and how an “image might compliment the language,” without being too literal. Once settled on an idea, they set the type and Brian creates the image from either wood or polymer, which is an involved and time consuming process. From here, each page is hand fed into the press, set to dry and sent out to their new owners.

Not to be outdone by the fireworks, the first pressing released with a bang—literally. On August 1st, 2007, the same day as their first release, the 35-W bridge collapsed only a block away.

For more information, please visit yes-press.com.