Books are objects and images in one. They embody ideas. When well designed, the graphics hold their own and react in combination with a title and its associations. The publication Pietro Mattioli: Celestino Piatti dtv sonderreihe 1966–1979 presents artist Pietro Mattioli’s collection of sonderreihe paperbacks. Here Mattioli’s fascination with books in general is focused on a publication series whose social, political and cultural impact has been significant in Europe. Moving through the world, the artist has tracked the movements of these books, these objects through which the intangible circulates. When he photographs a single used volume, he records all of this at once: the content, the vessel and its journey.
dtv, the Deutsche Taschenbuchverlag, was a publishing model for great literature published at affordable prices. Their ‘Sonderreihe’ (special series) was yet more ambitious, and niche, marketed as ‘a careful selection of avantgarde current works as well as discoveries from the font of 20th century revolutionary literary movements, presented in an expert edition.’ Translations were published that had not been accessible in Nazi Germany of the 1930s and ‘40s, while a German literary renaissance was fostered. Mattioli regards the enterprise with great respect in relation to its content, but an equal fascination with the graphic design. For the sonderreihe, graphic artist Celestino Piatti atypically adapted the cover design from the other dtv paperbacks, exchanging expressive illustrations for a single square, divided across its diagonals, inspired by the Concrete art movement.
Each of the 134 books from the series that Mattioli has found over more than a decade has been photographed. Tracked down in markets, book dealers and thrift stores, the books bear the marks of their history – not only their design histories, but the houses and hands in which they have spent their time in circulation. As well as stains and dog ears, the materials of the books reveal, by now, the economy of their production, which is almost a mark of honor within the endeavor to disseminate literature. A handful of publications remain elusive, while others pop up continually. Although this project is theoretically complete, Mattioli’s search never ceases.
In this Kodoji Press presentation the dtv books are life-size, the larger pages creating a frame that elevates the pocket-sized paperback. They are arranged on a thin but high-volume paper in an unsystematic order that brings about countless unexpected meetings of authors, titles and colours; three different covers heighten the sense of the chance encounter. Mattioli’s hand is scarcely visible, though the publication exists thanks to his ongoing passion for the sonderreihe. With great modesty, the artist’s name and the book title appear only as a sticker, like a price tag, on the back cover. -Publisher
Book was published with three different cover motifs.
