I PRINT, THEREFORE I AM

2014;

Modified printer, paper roll, 5 litres of ink;
The film displayed on an e-ink screen via custom software.

A modified digital printer is able to continuously perform printing on a looped-back sheet of paper, running throughout the entire duration of the show (two month), is repeatedly reproducing one line of text: ‘I Print Therefore, I Am’.

A digital printer had been modified so that it can continuously perform printing on a looped-back sheet of paper, running through cycles over and over again. An ink supply system - containing a 5 litre can of ink connected to the cartridge is then connected to the hacked printer, it is thus able to print non-stop throughout the duration of the whole exhibition, about 2 months, relentlessly reproducing the same line 'I print, therefore I am' (rephrased from 'I think, therefore I am’- René Descartes, Discours de la Methode, 1637). Through continuous repetitive activity the printer manifests its own existence, functioning in accordance with the principles of mechanical, industrial and consumer culture, formed during the 20th century and now becoming somewhat obsolete. This work also references that the origin of these principles evolved from the invention of printing technology, which remains the template for all subsequent mechanisation. ‘…repeatability is the root of the mechanical principle that has transformed the world since Gutenberg.

Typography, by producing the first uniformly repeatable commodity, also created Henry Ford, the first assembly line and the first mass production. Movable type was the archetype and prototype for all subsequent industrial development. Without phonetic literacy and the printing press, modern industrialism would be impossible…’ (Marshall McLuhan, interview, 1969). It is obvious that the "Typographic trance" is becoming obsolete and is replaced by more sophisticated media technologies which provide us with more opportunities for proactive reaction. In this context spectator is proposed to think of the printer, as the world’s last working printer, still printing, relentlessly and pointlessly, without being aware of the fact that a new logic has come into force.

'I Print Therefore I Am', film. 2014

Manifesta X: Printed Matter | Museum of Print, St.Petersburg, Russia. 2014

A modified E-ink screen displaying the film on 'I Print, Thereore I Am' via a custom designed software driver.

A result of relentless printing on an original fragment of the entire paper roll exhibited in a plexiglass box, following it being subject to two month-long printing operation.