Recipes for Disaster: an anarchist cookbook

After you have designed the overlay and printed out your tiles, you'll need to assemble the individual printouts jigsaw-style and glue them onto some sort of backing material. Heavy pattern paper works best for this, but you can also use i/8-inch foamcore for overlays less than 30 inches on a side. Start in one corner, adhering the first tile vidth spray adhesive to the backing material. Carefully assemble the rest of the tHes, trimming off Billboard Imarovement unprinted margin space as required and laying them down one at a time, making sure 120 all the edges are well-secured. If you get a little off-ldlter at some point in the process and

the pieces don't line up with absolute precision, don't worry?large-scale work is more forgiving, since people will be viewing it at a distance. When all the tiles are secured, reinforce the edges with clear packing tape. If it's going to be a wet night, or if there's a chance your work may stay up for a few days or more, consider weather-proofing your overlay with a coat of clear lacquer.

F) Tiling With a Photocopier. If you don't have access to a computer with desktop publishing software, but do have access to a good copy machine, you can duplicate the procedure described above using the copier's "enlarge" function. First, create a scale original of your overlay on a single sheet of paper. Next, pencil a grid over your drawing, with each section being proportionate to the largest size of paper the copier can accommodate {letter, legal, tabloid, etc.). Cut the original into pieces along the penciled lines, then enlarge each piece on the copier, going through as many generations as necessary until each piece fills its own sheet of paper. Assemble the pieces as described above, adding color with lacquer paints or permanent markers. Weatherproof if desired. Some photocopying franchises feature machines for making large-scale photocopies, up to four feet wide and an unlimited length.

G) Producing Overlays hy Hand. We recommend using heavy pattern paper and high-gloss, oil-based lacquer paints. The lacquer paint suffiises the paper, making it tough, water resistant, and difficult to tear. To make overlays, roller coat the background and spray paint the lettering through stencil templates of the letters. For extremely large images or panels, use large pieces of painted canvas. The canvas should be fairly heavy so it won't be ripped to shreds by the winds that buffet most billboards. Glue and staple i"x4" pine boards the entire horizontal lengths of the top and bottom of the canvas. The canvas will then roll up like a carpet for transportation and can be unrolled over the top of the board and lowered into place by ropes.

Billboard Improuemeni

'' A chalk snap line is a string suffused with chalk dust; stretched between two points, pulled back, and snapped against the surface between them, it leaves a line of chalk. To acquire one, go to a hardware store and ask for a chalk box.

H) Methods of Application. Although there are many types of adhesive that can be used, we recommend rubber cement. Rubber cement is easily removable, but if properly applied will stick indefinitely, and does not damage or permanently mark the board's surface. This may become important if you're apprehended and the authorities and owners attempt to assess property damage. Application of rubber cement on large overlays is tricky. You need to coat evenly both the back of the overlay and the surface of the board that is to be covered. Allow one to two minutes drying time before applying the paper to the board. To apply the cement, use lo" paint rollers and a five-gallon plastic bucket. Have one person coat the back of the overlays while another coats the board's surface. Both people will be needed to affix the coated overlay to the finished board surface. On cool nights there may be condensation on the board, in which case the area to be covered needs to be wiped down first?use shop towels or a chamois for this.

To level overlay panels on the board, measure up from the bottom {or dovm from the top) of the board to the bottom line of where it needs to be in order to cover the existing copy. Make small marks at the outermost left and right-hand points. Using a chalk snap line- with two people, snap a horizontal line between these two points. This Hne is your marker for placing your overlay.