So here is the next step in this process. The intense, lovely red mold added more to these pasteups than I could of anticipated.
I suppose the damp newsprint, kept warm in-between sandwiched layers of paper and tape, slathered with wheatpaste, provided an ideal environment for mold growth!

There is a little green mold, but mostly it’s that brilliant bright red colour. It looks to me like blood, and makes it seem almost like the skin of the poster has been peeled away to reveal a truly living thing underneath. (Which, I suppose, it has!) I have no idea how the mold spores got onto the pasteup, or if this mold is dangerous or not…

But I’m really delighted with how this worked out.

I also like how the 3 layers, torn like this, clearly shows how the newsprint yellows with age. The gradation illustrates the progression (deterioration?) of my posters.