Gunner Strietzel

Core Lab 2

Abby Gunnels

April 16, 2015

Printed Matter and Dashwood Review

Printed Matter and Dashwood Books are stores in New York City that specialize

in artist books and zines. While there are similarities between the two, such as the fact

that they both sell artist books, the two stores are actually quite different from one

another. Printed Matter, located in Chelsea, boasts a large collection of a variety of

books, ranging from text-filled novels such as On Democracy by Saddam Hussein to

small six page zines focusing on a particular photo shoot created by a relatively unknown

photography. Dashwood, located in SoHo, on the other hand, is exclusively devoted to

photographic books. In addition to the variances in content, the layout, organization, and

dcor of the stores also vastly differ. Printed Matter seems more chaotic and unorganized

while Dashwood has a more professional look to it, resembling that of a library. A single

trip to both stores will tell anyone that the similarities between these two seemingly

identical stores stop at their general description.

Going to Printed Matter is an experience in and of itself. The cramped space piled

high with tables and shelves of books and zines forces interaction between customers.

Simply opening the sticker infested and tagged front door without hitting someone

kneeling at the first shelf is a feat. In order to explore the variety of artist books Printed

Matter has to offer, one has no choice but to maneuver themselves between and around

other people. This sort of cramped environment might not faze some, but the constant

need to move out of the way for others does make it challenging to delve into whatever

content ones currently looking through. In addition to the cramped space, there seems to

be little to no order in how the books are arranged. While theres a section devoted to

LGBT zines, the majority of zines focusing on gay life and culture can be found in other

sections. The same can be said for other types of media as well. Printed Matter has some

of the most interesting and well designed artist books and zines, and it is definitely a store

to explore if one is looking for something more unique and lesser known, but the store is

set up in a way that one doesnt want to go there searching for a particular book. If you

go to Printed Matter you need to plan to spend a good amount of time there sifting

through whats on display in order to find something that sparks their interest.

Dashwood Books, unlike Printed Matter, focuses solely on photography books.

While Printed Matter has novels and books of paintings, drawings, ect., Dashwood

concentrates on photographic artist books. One of the best features of Dashwood is that

they carry a large array of rare photo books, as well as many photo books that are out of

date. The cleanliness and organization seen at Dashwood is very reminiscent of a library,

which for many artists can be very off-putting. Very much unlike Printed Matter, the

books at Dashwood resemble the typical book that one would see in a place like Barnes

and Nobel. There wasnt much in the category of outside the box thinking when it came

to what an artist book could be, and many of the books featured hard covers and dust

shields.

Dashwood is like Printed Matters older brother who went into art history at

Colombia as opposed to fine arts at Pratt like his younger sibling. Both have their obvious

merits, it simply depends on ones preference which one is better suited for their needs.

For someone like me, the cleanliness and order of Dashwood Books, along with the fact

that it was solely photographic content, drew me in more than the chaos of Printed

Matter. However, the variety of content at Printed Matter definitely helps more for

inspiration on a project such as our upcoming final in Core Lab 2.