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Dear friends,
Cindy and I would love to share with you our latest creative collaboration: “The City of Angels” by Eric Kim, Haptic Press limited edition art portfolio. As we prepare for our move to Vietnam/France, we wanted to say goodbye to Los Angeles by honoring its beauty and commemorating our time in California.
Each art portfolio is unique, made of organic materials, and responsive to touch. The portfolio may be viewed as a tri-fold book or displayed on the wall from its button-string closure.
Our Mission
THE CITY OF ANGELS is a photography triptych that honors the rough edges and honest beauty of Los Angeles, California. While walking in Downtown Los Angeles, Eric Kim met multi-faceted strangers and sought to create portraits imbued with emotion, soul, and mystery. He hopes that these images remind others of the beauty of fleeting encounters and the serendipity of life.
Eric Kim made these photographs from 2011 to 2016 in Downtown Los Angeles.
Haptic Experience
For us, we believe that art should be personal, accessible, and meaningful. Thus we came up with the idea of “The City of Angels” art portfolio–a beautifully hand crafted work of art that could be appreciated, touched, and shared.
Hand Printing and Laser Printing
For the cover, Cindy hand sketched Eric’s photograph of Los Angeles, carved it into a linoleum block, and hand printed it using archival oil-based ink. This resulted in a slightly raised, irregular, and unique texture on the cover of the portfolio.
We wanted to push the boundaires on what is considered ‘conventional’ wisdom for photo prints and art. In order to produce a ‘haptic’ and unique print, we used laser printing on textured paper because it would produce one-of-a-kind prints. For the monochromatic prints, laser printing adds to the irregular, rough, and individualized feel that we wanted to convey in the images.
Two Viewing Options: Tri-Fold Portfolio or Wall Display
We designed the art portfolio with the intention that it could be touched and viewed in different ways. The art portfolio will come packaged signed with its own box and signed colophon. “The City of Angels” may be viewed as a tri-fold or the button closure can be twisted into a loop to be hung for wall display.
A Labor of Love
Cindy and I conceptualized the art portfolio over conversations with friends and family over many cups of coffee (and glasses of whiskey). We poured our hearts into this project, and in all honestly, little did we know that our final days in California would be spent frantically running around finding archival ink and perfecting each print. At the same time, we loved it. Cindy taught me how to ink and print the art portfolio covers and her mom and sister even dedicated a few evenings to help out. We are incredibly thankful for the support of all those around us as this project came into fruition.
Limited Edition
“The City of Angels” is made in a limited edition of only 75 signed and boxed art portfolios. We poured our hearts and a tremendous amount of labor into making these 75 art portfolios.
Inspiration
Cindy studies her Ph.D. in Vietnamese history at UC Berkeley and researches the history of book, libraries, and print making. From her research, she has studied the history and craft of woodblock printing. We are both deeply inspired by Japanese woodblock printing in particular, and the Japanese philosophy of “wabi-sabi”–the beauty in transience and imperfection.
Eric was also moved by his grandfather’s calligraphy that he made over his lifetime before he passed away. Calligraphy scrolls were one of the reasons why we created “The City of Angels” art portfolio to be hung on the wall or viewed as a tri-fold portfolio.
Colophon
THIS ART PORTFOLIO is handmade by Cindy A. Nguyen of Haptic Press in August 2016. Embracing the meaning of ‘haptic’ and ‘wabi-sabi,’ each art portfolio is unique, made of organic materials, and responsive to touch. The portfolio may be viewed as a tri-fold book or displayed on the wall from its button-string closure.
The photography by Eric Kim is laser printed on 80 pound uncoated paper. The cover is a sketch of a color film photograph shot on Kodak Portra 400 in Downtown Los Angeles in 2013. The cover is hand-printed using linoleum block printing with archival oil-based ink on recycled paper. The button-string enclosure is handmade from plike paper and waxed thread.
This edition is limited to 75 signed copies, numbered from 1 to 75.
This project was a labor of love and a creative collaboration among Eric Kim, Cindy A. Nguyen, and patient friends and family.
Invest in “The City of Angels”
There are only a limited edition of 75 signed and boxed art portfolios. Each portfolio required a tremendous amount of time, labor, and thought to carefully make. Each purchase will continue to support the creative collaborations of Haptic Industries and the Eric Kim Photography blog.
Making-of Product Photos
Learn More about Haptic Industries
hap·tic
ˈhaptik/
-
of or relating to the sense of touch, in particular relating to the perception and manipulation of objects using the senses of touch and proprioception.
Haptic Industries makes photography tools, educational materials, and art prints. Haptic Industries believes in making products in small, carefully curated and quality controlled batches. Many of our products are handmade or digitally made by Cindy and Eric in make-shift workshops during our world travels. We hope to also build a community of learners and creatives through Haptic Industries.
Haptic Press curates, edits, and publishes photography educational material and art books. Many of Haptic Press products are handmade or partially mechanical/handmade in small batches in California. The mission of Haptic Press is to bridge the divide between the digital and analog, art world and education.
For questions, contact Cindy at hapticindustries@gmail.com.
Follow Haptic Industries on Instagram.