Tire print for the BMC Conference
Early October brings the 16th editi0n of ReVIEWing BMC, the annual conference I have attended since 2009. I will attend sessions conducted by BMC friends, old and new, and surely learn many new things and meet some wonderful people. I always bring a printed hand-laid paper item to give away. This year it was my great joy to print a tire 100 times! John Cage and Robert Rauschenberg made Automobile Tire Print in 1953, with Cage running the inked wheel of his Model A over a 20 ft strip of paper. I printed 60 feet, 9 inches at a time. Each is quite different on close inspection, illuminating a primary John Cage principle.
Setting up this unique printing job took some thinking. I jammed a rebar in a spare tire for our farm cart and taped it in place, with marks for determining a full rotation when inking. When the tire was heavily inked in its suspension rack, I placed the paper, covered with a tympan, and picked up each end of the metal axle to roll it heavily down the double thick sheet of rag paper. I could usually do about fifteen in a single taxing session. But it was so much fun to enact, in my own way, the art action I wanted to commemorate.
This wonderful book educated me about the original tire print
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raleighrambles.com
portrait by Guillermo Velasco
Raleigh Rambles 
so creatively cool !!! thanks John. Nice to read about the process, and the history.
I wish I could be up there for the next Conference event. I went long ago during the first or second time they had that event I believe— Have a great week
Comment by Bill Poole | August 30, 2026
I enjoyed reading the motivation for this, the process you developed and how your experience in producing these prints intentionally paid homage to the artists who inspired the work. Each print is so special.
Comment by Jonathan Laurer | August 31, 2026