Risograph revival: How a forgotten printer built a global DIY art movement

Risograph printing was built for efficiency — a fast, economical way to make thousands of identical copies for offices, churches and schools. It was never meant to be expressive or personal. After newer technology pushed the machine into obsolescence, artists began discovering risography — drawn to its unpredictability, physicality and limits. From a squatted bank in the Netherlands to DIY print spaces across Europe and the U.S., Risograph printing became a tool for people working outside traditional art and publishing systems.

In San Diego, that lineage comes into focus at Burn All Books — a space that is part shop, part press and part gathering place. There, Risograph printing isn't just about what gets made, but how: through shared labor, in-person collaboration and a commitment to keeping artists connected in an increasingly expensive and isolating city.

"You need a network of people who want to help you. That's something cobbled together very slowly over a long period of time. I just feel like so much of our success, to me, has felt like a combination of flukes and really wonderful favors and opportunities," said Manda Bernal, who cofounded Burn All Books with her husband Nick.

Guests:

• Manda and Nick Bernal, Burn All Books founders
•  Kevin Huynh, artist
• Paloma, Jill, Phillip, Noelle, Tia, Galia and the crew at Burn All Books
• Jan Dirk de Wilde, Knust co-founder
• George Wietor, Issue Press founder

Sources:

• Squatting in the Netherlands: The social and political institutionalization of a movement (Hans Pruijt, Public goods versus economic interests via EUR Research Information Portal, 2017)
• “KNUST, the pioneers of Riso print” documentary directed by Ivana Smudja
• RISO Kagaku’s history (RISO official website)
• The Vintage Japanese Copy Machine Enjoying an Artistic Renaissance (Evan Nicole Brown, Atlas Obscura, 2018)
• Culture Report: The Rise of the Risograph (Julia Dixon Evans, Voice of San Diego, 2018)