RISO CLUB: SUBCULTURAL PRINTING WORKSHOP
September 20, 2024
A risograph is not just a machine for printing large print runs. A whole subculture with its own aesthetics, zines, posters is formed around these machines. RISO CLUB is one of the brightest representatives of this community. Ten years this workshop from Leipzig has been printing posters, vinyl covers and other stuff, experimenting with different risograph possibilities.
Tomorrow the KLUB space in Nizhny Novgorod will show archival posters by German artists printed by the RISO CLUB team over the past 10 years. Ahead of the exhibition, we got in touch with Sina from RISO CLUB to talk about the "kitchen" of subcultural typography, working principles and inspiring Leipzig.
Tomorrow the KLUB space in Nizhny Novgorod will show archival posters by German artists printed by the RISO CLUB team over the past 10 years. Ahead of the exhibition, we got in touch with Sina from RISO CLUB to talk about the "kitchen" of subcultural typography, working principles and inspiring Leipzig.
Your studio is located in Leipzig, a city that is famous for its hangouts and subcultures. Tell us more about Leipzig, the atmosphere of the city and how it inspires you.
Leipzig, the most beautiful city in the summer (heading to the lakes around & hanging on the streets all night) and most depressed in the winter (in Germany). So thoughts right now are something like "Winter is coming and my favorite bar just closed". Which actually happens in a few weeks!.
10 years from now, before we opened the studio, we knew that Leipzig is that place where artists (in every form) can live "low" by paying low rents. Somehow we got linked to an association named "Haushalten e.V.", who liked our concept of the riso studio and invited us into a house project. Years before that, the owner bought a (our) house in the empty and kinda wracked district in the east of Leipzig, He didn’t manage or did not want to renovate it - so he kinda let it be. The association contacted him around 2012 and they made up a deal, the deal was: we will renovate the house by paying a really low rent. So we moved ourselves and our studio to the east of Leipzig. It became a crazy pioneer time where actually everyone who just moved there seemed to had a blast by opening up things, renovating apartments or bars or squading areas for trailer parks and more. It felt like authorities did not care… So the feeling to design your own city was pretty motivating to kinda never say NO to any idea for projects or just hangouts.
But thoughts right now are something like "Winter is coming and my favorite bar just closed".
10 years from now, before we opened the studio, we knew that Leipzig is that place where artists (in every form) can live "low" by paying low rents. Somehow we got linked to an association named "Haushalten e.V.", who liked our concept of the riso studio and invited us into a house project. Years before that, the owner bought a (our) house in the empty and kinda wracked district in the east of Leipzig, He didn’t manage or did not want to renovate it - so he kinda let it be. The association contacted him around 2012 and they made up a deal, the deal was: we will renovate the house by paying a really low rent. So we moved ourselves and our studio to the east of Leipzig. It became a crazy pioneer time where actually everyone who just moved there seemed to had a blast by opening up things, renovating apartments or bars or squading areas for trailer parks and more. It felt like authorities did not care… So the feeling to design your own city was pretty motivating to kinda never say NO to any idea for projects or just hangouts.
But thoughts right now are something like "Winter is coming and my favorite bar just closed".
Can you recall the moment when you were first introduced to risography? Describe it? What was it? A zine? A poster? Or was it something else? What were you thinking when you first viewed this type of print? And what fascinated you about it?
I met this kind of a copy machine around 2013 at my university in Darmstadt, Germany. The place I also met Christiane Haas and Alex Brade, with whom I used to hang out a lot during the studies and also got the idea to open up a "Cool copy shop".
While I was doing Erasmus 2012, a professor from Darmstadt managed to buy a Riso for students use. So after I came back to town, Christiane kind of urged me to have a glimpse on the "new machine". She first tried to explain the Riso technique by words and literally I had no idea what she was talking. So we went to the workshop, without having a date set up, and printed some simple 1-colored posters. Guess I kinda got the beginner level - not knowing what you can do with it by leveling up. But I was fascinated about the "special grain look" and about the chill access to a special print technique we finally got.
While I was doing Erasmus 2012, a professor from Darmstadt managed to buy a Riso for students use. So after I came back to town, Christiane kind of urged me to have a glimpse on the "new machine". She first tried to explain the Riso technique by words and literally I had no idea what she was talking. So we went to the workshop, without having a date set up, and printed some simple 1-colored posters. Guess I kinda got the beginner level - not knowing what you can do with it by leveling up. But I was fascinated about the "special grain look" and about the chill access to a special print technique we finally got.
Why did you decide to take up riso printing by yourself? Tell us about your first steps - how did you search for the necessary equipment for printing? Was it difficult? Maybe recall an interesting incident/cases related to finding colors or machines.
The actual story was that we, Alex, Christiane and I, kinda broke into our printing workshop at our university. Alex had the urge to print a secret poster and to hang it at unreachable places overnight before he (and Christiane) moved to Leipzig. So we 3 ended up printing a DinA1 Poster with huge Helvetica letters with a letterpress at night. While doing this, thoughts popped up how cool it would be to always have those possibilities and also to offer this to others - and because riso is quite affordable and easy to use the idea of the RISO CLUB came to life.
So many incidents happened since we bought the first machine, which was wrecked from the beginning, or actually I think we just thought it was wrecked. So we got another one! Then the first drum we had to open up - everything from your hands to your clothes to your furniture is messed up with color. Then the first screw we forgot to reinstalled following the sound the machine died - and finally the happy feeling when you made the machine work again. So many exciting and thrilling things happened the past 10 years! Thankfully the Riso crowd grew a lot - so if you have any problem now you will find someone who is in for help!
So many incidents happened since we bought the first machine, which was wrecked from the beginning, or actually I think we just thought it was wrecked. So we got another one! Then the first drum we had to open up - everything from your hands to your clothes to your furniture is messed up with color. Then the first screw we forgot to reinstalled following the sound the machine died - and finally the happy feeling when you made the machine work again. So many exciting and thrilling things happened the past 10 years! Thankfully the Riso crowd grew a lot - so if you have any problem now you will find someone who is in for help!
We can easily read the strong influence of punk culture in everything RISO CLUB does. Tell us about the punk culture in your city and how you interact with it.
Although some DIY and other places are closing, Leipzig is still a place where the subculture is quite big. Almost all of my friends are musicians and I help them (and others) printing stuff, just as Tape or Vinyl 7“ covers or gig posters etc. Maybe the gig poster thing is my favorite part of my job. For an interview for the BUSY HANDS festival. I got asked where I like to see the posters the most - my answer was on the walls in the streets.
You represent a wide variety of artists. How is your artist selection process structured? What criterias are important to you?
Actually the people who like to print stuff are coming to me. Haha. Guess that has been the plan opening up an open riso workshop. Uhm. But for the ART VOLKMARSDORF, a yearly group exhibition happening in the RISO CLUB, we are inviting 20 artists from all over the globe to join the craziness. Our goal is to reach out to a high variety of styles, professionalism and also age which makes up a funny show! We also invited DIMA a few years ago, who kinda invited me to the exhibition at Nizhny Novgorod association KLUB.
What kind of people would you never work together with and why?
Never would work with fascists, sexists, homophobes or assholes. Like if Rammstein would ask me to print a million CD Covers - would be hard for the money - but I would say NO. In my head having respect for each other and for the minor ones is really important for our society and therefore for everyone - and I think Rammstein kinda missed that point and even worse! (Don't want to get into this that much! But those knuckleheads popped into my head by making me and a lot of people feel very sad and angry lately!!!!).
We were introduced to you by the team of the Nizhny Novgorod association KLUB. And how did you meet them? And how did it happen that you are presenting an exhibition in KLUB?
A while ago, the artist DIMA made a tape cover for the band LASSIE and EX WHITE. Don't know how he ended up there, but this is how I got to know the great works of DIMA. After a group exhibition he joined I also asked him to design a page for the riso printed agenda 2022. Now he asked me to participate to the KLUB exhibition.
Tell us more about this exhibition.
This year the RISO CLUB turned 10(0) years. So we celebrated this big anniversary with an archive exhibition at BISTRO 21 and a lot more fun stuff. So when I got asked to participate at the exhibition at KLUB, I showed pictures of the archive show this year. I got asked to ship all of it, we are talking about 200 posters from 2014 to 2024, but this would have been to dangerous cause of its value... So we selected a few, about 30, trying to show the whole beauty of risography! Enjoy!
If it's not a secret, tell us about your further plans for publishing and future projects?
The big plan is to found a publishing house, actually it’s time. And try to keep up with the positive energy the RISO CLUB serves to the people. XOXO.
