Dafi Kühne: Constructing Posters

In recent years, a structurally simple analog printing method, the letterpress technique invented by Gutenberg in the 15th century, is regaining popularity with makers and artisans as a way to counteract the digital world in an age of booming digital and AI technologies. In Japan and Western countries in particular, large numbers of printing presses are still in operation. Although most of them are small-scale, it seems that many people are still inspired by letterpress printing. Even so, the Swiss artist Dafi Kühne is probably the only one in the world who specializes in using letterpress printing to make large-format posters, including the 89.5 x 128 cm format, which is specific to Switzerland, or the 70 x 100 cm format, which is similar to the Japanese B1 size. Both a graphic designer and a letterpress printer, Kühne keeps approximately 40 tons of printing presses, movable type, and other equipment in his workshop in the foothills of the Swiss Alps. This is where he creates his posters through a complex, labor-intensive process that involves using both his hands and his body to operate the equipment. Kühne uses metal type, wood type, hand-made linocuts, and other traditional materials and techniques. From time to time, he even casts metal type and constructs original printing blocks by integrating and developing new ideas. He also pays close attention to the process of fixing the image on paper. Not content to confine himself to using existing tools as-is, he builds his own dedicated tools and modifies printing presses by combining modern equipment with traditional ones to hand-print posters one at a time. In short, Dafi Kühne is not merely a graphic designer, but an artisan who designs the entire printing process, transforming the initial design into finished printed matter. Entitled Constructing Posters, this exhibition closely traces Kühne’s approach to design by showing not only the finished posters, but also the physical evidence of a production process that is essentially hand-built. The emerging space will be filled with the forgotten sensations of smell and touch, weight and lightness. Looking at Kühne’s approach to creating work, visitors will be able to experience the infinite potential of expression created by the human hand.