Open Closed

Olav Lorentzen came to us with an idea: a book that didn’t open and one that couldn’t close. It wasn’t a sculpture of a book, but a fully bound, otherwise completely functional set of books. They opposed and completed each other. A resonance.

And so we did just that

The book that doesn’t open is named just so.

Aberto, meaning “open” in Portuguese is an entirely handbound book, including 12 stitched signatures representing the 12 months of the year. At the 6 month point, the stitching inverts and adheres to the second spine before being bound into itself.

The cover design is inspired by famous publisher Nascimento

The book that doesn’t close

Fechado is embossed into the cover of this book. Completing the pair, it means closed.

Completely exposed and yet unprinted, the book is unreadable. Folded out and bound in reverse, the artist book features two text blocks on opposing spines, handbound and designed by our bindery specialists.

Finishing touches

Finally, the works are inset in a custom made, suede lined maple box. The top is finished with birch ply to create a transitionary illusion from utilitarian and necessary packaging to luxury lined bespoke interior.


Olav Lorentzen

Researcher on the study of perception, in disciplines such as anthropology, philosophy, and physics, Olav explores, professedly, the possibility of reorganising the world in an effort to question pre-established understanding.

His work, situated in time, inhabits hybrid fields. Using the concept of circularity and mutual transformation, it questions "intermediate spaces" ; and investigates the diverse relations between the subject and the object or between a thought and a word.

By making use of the occasion, or inventing small contradictions in the everyday, the artist explores inconsistencies between the concept of something and the perception of something. In his pieces, subtle gestures, sometimes even banal, are capable of sowing sincere experiences and having a strong impact. They aim to help us appreciate reality and life with more intensity, individuality and consciousness.


Olav has taken part in shows at Cidade das Artes, Rio de Janeiro. The Freud Museum, London. Julio de Matos Hospital, Lisbon.

https://cargocollective.com/olavlorentzen

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