Kosmos
Jan von Holleben
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“I once ruled the worlds. Not just one, but many. I ruled them with mirrors and lenses. I ruled them with light and shadow and time. Sometimes I ruled with a trick of the eye. Through my camera, an entire kosmos took shape, and each world within it seemed to operate by a certain unfamiliar logic.” – Jan von Holleben
Kosmos is a collection of visual puzzles for the connoisseur of photography. Drawing from his lifelong fascination with homo ludens, the human being who learns through play, Jan von Holleben takes inspiration from Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities and creates six imaginary worlds of his own – a system of planets, if you will – each constructed of ordinary objects that are transformed through the optical tricks of photography.
Kosmos
Jan von Holleben
Six variably-sized softcover books housed in a printed and folded portfolio box
Planeta Symmatrius:
15 x 21cm (6 x 8 in.) trimmed page; 30 x 21cm (12 x 8 in.) open
48 pages; 30 color images
Planeta Visumbra:
27.5 x 18cm (10 x 7 in.) trimmed page; 55 x 18cm (20 x 7 in.) open
16 pages; 7 double-page color images
Planeta Microidi:
27.5 x 36cm (10 x 14 in.) trimmed page; 55 x 36cm (20 x 14 in.) open
28 pages; 13 double-page color images
Planeta Florala:
21 x 28cm (8 x 11 in.) trimmed page; 42 x 28cm (16 x 11 in.) open
24 pages; 11 double-page color images
Planeta Phantafulgeo:
23.5 x 31cm (9 x 12 in.) trimmed page; 47 x 31cm (18 x 12 in.) open
16 pages; 7 double-page color images
Planeta Isolametro:
27.5 x 18cm (10 x 7 in.) trimmed page; 55 x 18cm (20 x 7 in.) open
12 pages; 5 double-page color images
First edition: 350 copies
Materials: The book paper is ProfiBulk 1,3 115 gsm, a wood-free, coated paper with pH >7 measured according to ISO 6588; cover paper is Gmund No Bleach 300gsm, a pH neutral paper; portfolio box is pH neutral KöhlerBox S Color (brown) with a linen band closure.
Printing: The books and covers were printed by Nina Holland on Little Steidl’s Roland 200 offset-lithographic printing press using a four-color process for the books and a graphite grey ink for the book covers.
Stitching: The books were stitched by hand using a modified double-running stitch; stitch lengths are customized to the centerfold image and thread color varies by book.
Concept and work: Jan von Holleben
Editor: Nina Holland
Book design: Nina Holland
Texts: Jan von Holleben and Nina Holland
Scans, color correction, and separations: Nina Holland / Little Steidl
Production, pre-press, printing, and binding: Nina Holland / Little Steidl
2017
ISBN 978-3-944630-01-4
Printed in Germany by Little Steidl
Find out how this book was made: workshop/Kosmos
About the Artist
Born in 1977 and brought up in the southern German countryside, Jan von Holleben lived most of his youth in an alternative commune and identifies a strong connection between the development of his photographic work and the influence of his parents, a cinematographer and child therapist. At the age of thirteen, he followed his father’s photographic career by picking up a camera and experimenting with all sorts of magical tricks, developing his photographic imagination and skills with friends and family and later honing his technique in commercial settings.
After pursuing studies in teaching children with disabilities at the Pädagogische Hochschule in Freiburg, he moved to London, earned a degree in the Theory and History of Photography at Surrey Institute of Art and Design, and became submerged within the London photographic scene, where he worked as picture editor, art director, and photographic director. He quickly set up two photographic collectives, Young Photographers United and photodebut, followed more recently by the Photographer’s Office and the publishing house Tarzipan. His body of photographic work focusing on the homo ludens – the man who learns through play – is itself built from a playful integration of pedagogical theory with his own personal experiences of play and memories of childhood.
Ten years ago Holleben came to Little Steidl and proposed to make a kosmos. Immediately accepted, this project began a long-term artistic collaboration with the publishing house. Kosmos is the first project to be released, and there are many more surprises in the queue to be printed in coming years as well as many new projects yet to be discovered.