School of Art, Media and Design, UWE Bristol:
Helga Kos
Ode aan de Kolossale Zon
16th October – 19th November
Why a Book
A year before I actually started working on my artist’s book ‘Ode aan de Kolossale Zon’ (Ode to the Colossal Sun) I made a series of paintings that were inspired by a music composition of Ned Rorem: 'Last Poems of Wallace Stevens'. Although I was happy with these works they did seem to lack something: an intrinsic relation to music. That is why I started searching for a more specific, logical form for a work of art that was inspired by music. I am not a printer, nor a book artist. I am a painter, but it was obvious that I should make a book, because that was the most perfect solution.
One experiences a book not at one glance but by leafing through it. Music also does not give a complete impression instantaneously, but reveals itself 'in time'. In a book, the images on the separate pages can influence and supplement each other. It was a surprise to discover how many new ways a book offered me to process complex images.
My intention with this artist's book was that the pages should not exist solitarily. They should not be separate graphic sheets, but acquire their meaning in relation to each other. The image changes by turning the pages. After-image and transparency play an important role in this. To emphasize this, I have frequently chosen thin paper, transparent paper and Japanese paper as well as 'fat' printing techniques such as linonoleum-cut and stencil. 'Smut' and 'show-through', traditionally a printer's nightmare, were consciously sought techniques.
Wallace Sevens’ enigmatic and, at the same time, extremely expressive poems often have as their theme the relationship between reality and imagination. My own ideas on this subject are akin to Stevens' and I felt challenged to attach a third, visual stratum to Stevens' poetry and Rorem's music. Fortunately, when I got started, I didn’t foresee that it would take me five years to complete the work.
'Last Poems of Wallace Stevens' consists of nine sections which contrast strongly in timbre, time signature, tempo and rhythm. Soprano, cello and piano appear in many different combinations of importance. Recurring musical themes connect the separate sections. In the book, I worked with images in a similar way. It comprises three volumes which can be viewed side by side. This allows connections to be made between the different image themes recurrent in the three parts.
Stevens wrote these poems at the end of his life. And though they are infused with the realization of ones own mortality, they are not so much about death as about the vitality of life. The word death never occurs. Only in the poem 'The River of Rivers in Connecticut' does he refer to it implicitly: 'There is a great river this side of Stygia...' (the grounds around the Greeks’ river the Styx). For me, this poem occupies a key position within the cycle.
'Ode aan de Kolossale Zon' is a joint publication by Wendingen, Helga Kos and Galerie Samuel Lallouz. The book was printed using ten distinct techniques on twelve different papers, in a signed and numbered edition of 288. Most of the printing was done by Helga Kos at the graphic workshop of the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam. 156 pages in a three volume box set, sized 34x26x6 cm. Typography by Josje Pollmann. Includes a special CD with the ‘Last Poems of Wallace Stevens’ by Wendingen, with Irene Maessen, soprano; Hans Woudenberg, violoncello; Marja Bon, piano.
In 2004 ‘Ode to the Colossal Sun’ was awarded ‘Best Dutch Book Designs' and in Germany selected for the Short list of ‘Best Book Designs From All Over The World’
.
The book is included in the public collections of:
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam;
Museum Meermanno, The Hague;
Royal Library of The Netherlands, The Hague;
Bibliothéque Nationale de France, Paris;
Herinneringsfonds Vincent van Gogh, The Hague;
LA Louver Gallery, Venice, California;
Columbia University, New York, NY, USA;
UB, University at Buffalo, NY, USA;
Piermont Morgan Library, New York;
Smith College, Massachusetts.
See also www.arttrack.nl/HelgaKos (under button ‘Ode to the Colossal Sun’) and www.galeriesamuellallouz.com/editions/
back