Ode aan de Kolossale zon : een boek

Artist

Kos, Helga

Date

• 2003

Publisher

[Amsterdam: Wendingen]

Summary

• COLOPHON: ""Ode aan de Kolossale Zon" is a co-production by music ensemble Wendingen, artist Helga Kos, and Galerie Samuel Lallouz, Montréal, also publisher of artists' editions. The edition consists of: 288 copies, signed and numbered: 1-288. 12 copies not for sale, personalized gifts, signed and numbered: I-XII."
• Epilogue: "Ode aan de Kolossale Zon' (Ode to the Colossal Sun) is an artists' book with cd, based on Ned Rorem's cycle of songs: Last Poems of Wallace Stevens. In 1997, Wendingen invited me to adorn their performance of the 'Last Poems' with an exhibition. The music and poems evoked an overwhelming amount of images in my mind, much more than I could express in the gouaches and drawings for just this one exhibition. This inspired me to search for an art form truly reflecting the characteristics of music. I developed the idea for a book that doesn't reveal its contents in one instant, but over a period of time. As in music, themes presented at the outset recur in due course. Through transparent and partly cut pages certain images are already amounted before they actually appear on the scene."
• The three volumes of the book are semi-permanently connected through pieces of Velcro. The back of the cover of part one folds over the cover of part two. The back of the cover of part two folds over the cover of part three, and the back cover of part three folds inside. This way the three volumes of the book become one solid object.
• Ned Rorem (1928) was inspired by the poetry of Wallace Stevens (1879-1955), whilst Stevens was inspired by the cubist painting of his contemporaries Picasso and Juan Gris. Now, in turn, Rorem's composition is the source of inspiration for a new work of art. '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 work 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.
• Signed by the artist.
• Number: 124/288.