Harnessing the Creative Potential of an Obsolete Technology
Photo: (left) This chart details the ways that the risograph inks can be combined and layered to create more colors. (right) Vicky Tomayko loads a fluorescent pink ink drum into the risograph machine. (Photos by Antonia DaSilva)
In a room of new computers and digital printers at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, several cubic feet of space are taken up by what, at first glance, appears to be an office copier. That’s not quite right, however. The bulky gray machine is a risograph.
The risograph was invented in Japan by Noboru Hayama. First released in 1980, they were originally intended for offices and schools. Much like a copy machine, they can produce multiples very quickly — more than 100 copies per minute.
While risographs have been replaced by laser and digital photocopiers in many contexts — including at the Work Center — in recent years there has been a resurgence of interest in them as a tool for artists.
