Russell Maret, “The Making of Character Traits”

Boston Athenæum

February 11, 2020 at the Boston Athenæum. In this talk Russell Maret will discuss the three year process of making his most recent artist’s book, Character Traits. The book continues Maret’s investigation into alphabetical form, which he has undertaken over the last twenty years in a series of printed books and manuscripts, many of which are in the Athenæum’s collection. This newest project is composed of two parts: a volume of essays about alphabetical character traits, specifically how different lettering technologies affect alphabetical form; and a portfolio of twenty-five prints that explore these ideas in a series of texts chosen for their insights into human character traits, each of which is set in unique lettering designed by Maret. The making of Character Traits took on a whole new level of production because during the preliminary work on the project Maret realized it would be conceptually inconsistent to print the plates using the printing method in which he is trained—letterpress. Instead, he purchased an etching press and spent a year learning the necessary skills to print the plates intaglio. The ensuing process of teaching himself a new printing medium, while also wrestling with the creative and conceptual aspects of the project, resulted in many humorous episodes. The talk will cover the ups and downs of this process, and discuss the ideas that lead Maret to make the book in the first place.