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Eric Gill’s book by William Knight imprint staff
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The St. Jerome’s Centre for Catholic Experience kicked off its fall lecture series last Thursday, October 18th with a slide illustrated address by Father Brocard Sewell on the art and life of Eric Gill. Gill, born in England in 1882, was a prominent sculptor and printer. He is best known, among bibliophiles, for his engraving and typography in private press editions of the Four Gospels, The Canterbury Tales, and other literary works. Fr. Sewell’s slide-illustrated talk covered Gill’s career as a sculptor and printer, with an emphasis on Gill’s achievement in book-making arts.
Gill began his career as an apprentice to a London architect. He gave up London and architecture for the peace of Ditchling in 1907. At Ditchling, Gill worked on his sculpture, including the Stations of the Cross for Westminster Abbey. In 1916, Hilary Pepler joined Gill at Ditchling and St. Dominique’s Press was established. Pepler and Gill collaborated on the printing of well-made small books, illustrated with Gill’s distinctive wood-engravings. After a falling-out with Pepler, Gill left Ditchling at St. Dominique’s Press to work with Robert Gibbings. Gibbings ran The Golden Cockerel, a private press in the tradition of William Morris’ Kelmscott Press which published skillfully printed and bound editions of literary classics. Gill finally established his own press with his son-in-law in 1928. He carried on with printing small editions (such as John Gray’s utopian fantasy Park, A Fantastic Story) but also
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established a commercial printing relationship with J.M. .Dent. As a typographer, Gill left behind eleven typefaces, some of which are still in use today. He was also daring in his experiments with typefaces and illustrations. Park, the novel by John Gray, was printed wholly in an italic typeface. The type was Joanna, Gill’s own creation. Fr. Sewell noted that audacity of such an undertaking but illustrated the success of Gill’s experiment with a slide showing a page from the book. Gill’s ideas on art and artists were also outlined by Fr. Sewell. As an artist, Gill was concerned about the lack of craftsmanship in industrial society. He did not approve of art as decoration, especially when it was used to disguise a massproduced object. Gill, himself, however, often produced art which was purely decorative. His sculptures for the BBC office in London and the League of Nations building in Geneva are cases in point. Fr. Sewell is well-qualified to talk about Gill. He was apprenticed to St. Dominique’s Press (after Gill had left) and, as a young journalist, met Gill. Fr. Sewell came to Canada to deliver a series of lectures on Gill throughout eastern Canada. Michael Higgins, director of the St. Jerome’s Centre, organized the lecture tour which takes Fr. Sewell to Toronto, P.E.I. and Nova Scotia. The Arts Library, which has an impressive Gill collection, has mounted an exhibition of Gill’s work to coincide with Sewell’s lecture. The exhibit, which was also held last year, is currently on view in the basement of the Arts Library. Though the. lecture was sparsely attended, the attentive audience came away with a deeper appreciation of Eric Gill’s life and work.
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Considering for a moment the fact that most people (myself included) approach commercials with a distaste bordering on open loathing, it may seem strange that virtually half an auditorium would gather for an entire evening of them; yet this is precisely what took place this past Thursday, October 18th at the Humanities Theatre. The event was the International Clio Awards --- the advertising world’s answer to the Oscars; the difference being that the judges for the Clios are chosen from ad agencies across the world, resulting in a “peer” judging system. From a record 17,669 entries submitted by fourteen countries, 232 ads were chosen to receive ,the coveted statuette, in four categories: print, radio, T.V. cinema, and pat kaging design. Highlights of the evening were as follows: in the packaging design category, a chocolate company’s “Tuxedo Edition” design --- featuring a box in the form of a tuxedo breast, in velvet and silk, complete with a bow tie that can be worn with your own formal wear, as well as a velvet top-hat filled with chocolates and a silver-topped cane also filled with chocolates; a bit pricey perhaps, but definitely overflowing with class and taste. In the print competition, there were several Pioneer stereo
Performing
ads, a number of Apple computer ads (both renowned for their peculiar brand of humour), as well as a haircutting establishment’s advertisement featuring a picture of Richard Nixon-and the text: “There’s no disguising a bad haiycut”. In the radio section, the outstanding ad wb., for the Metro Toronto Zoo --- a spot entitled “Simultaneous Translation”, with a variety of animal noises and their alleged translations into English. The T.V./cinema competition contained by far the most interesting ads, needless to say --- award recipients included Volkswagen (both in the U.S. and abroad), Federal Express, Sony (both for a wholly computer-animated Walkman ad, as well as a series of three home-entertainment unit spots, featuring a robot speaking with the voice of Monty Python funnyman, John Cleese), and IBM, with their Chaplinesque series. Two ads that received ludience acclamation in particular were the British Airways spot, with its striking surrealism, and the muc’h-ballyhooed Wendy’s ad featuring the “Where’s The Beef’ lady. The television ad that caught this reporter’s eye, however, was one for a brand of wine that escapes recollectIon at [he moment --- it featured an actor resembling OLSOI~ Welles serving wine to Ernest and Julio Gallo, Aldo (the Cella Lambrusco man), and the Blue Nun, and closing off with the I ine: “We will sell no wine...before you pay for it”.
Arts
Now in its third year the Performing Arts at St. Jerome’s College has once again expanded its program in 1984-85 to eight performance events and nine films. Th e program 1s not merely- an entertainment series, although it has tremendous entertainment value, but is d&signe:l to engage a broad base of drtistic disciplines. The presentation of artis& in performance rounds out the educational mandate of post-secondary education in the arts. It provides the opportunity for students to witness in praxis what is theorized in the classroom. Besides, where else can students see and hear artists like the Colorado String Quartet or the Elvin Jones Quartet for two bucks. In the coming weeks (Nov. 9th and 10th) St. Jerome’s Performing Arts will feature the legendary jazz drummer, Elvin Jones and his Quintet. This promises to be the jazz event of the year. Late November (Nov. 28, 29, 30, Dec. 1) will see Acting Company’s production of La Storia; a collective work, inspired by ltalo Calvino’s Folktales, which explores the bit Ler-sweet textures of the Canadian cultural mosaic.. In ;Iddition, two films, Bergnm~~‘s Fanny and Alexander and the highly touted and cant roversicll When the Mountain’s Tremble, shot entirely in Guc~temch, will lo screened on Novenh~ 2nd dnd 7 t 1~respectively.
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Clio award salutes the beef by Mathew Ingram imprint staff
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