Assembling: Mapping the Cosmos

« Back to Publications

The Codex Foundation is pleased to announce the publication of their second Assembly-Exchange portfolio Mapping the Cosmos

'Cosmos' is defined as an ordered universe. A cosmos may be as minute as an atomic particle or as great as the universe itself and, by definition, everywhere in between as well. Chaos, the opposite of cosmos, is a disordered and primordial pre-condition out of which the cosmos itself is formed. 

Mapping is a fundamental mode of human understanding and enterprise. We find maps in sand painting, scratched and painted on walls, inscribed on velum and printed on paper. Mapping, often understood as ordering the territorial and the practical—star maps, oceanic and aerial navigation, boundaries and roads, gene maps—can be much, much more. What else? Invented islands? Impractical cosmographic imaging? Occult lines of force—lines of communication? We will experiment!

Mapping the Cosmos, the second CODEX Assembly/Exchange, consists of a carefully curated anthology of commissioned maps and cosmological meditations from thirty-three of the best and most imaginative artists and printers practicing today. The contributors, representing six nations on four continents, are chosen from among the 400+ artists and publishers who have exhibited at the previous five CODEX International Book Fairs. They have graciously donated their work in an effort to support the Codex Foundation's mission to provide artists, bibliophiles, collectors, and curators access to an international and reliable marketplace for extraordinary books and ideas. 

PARTICIPATING ARTISTS
Sue Anderson and Gwen Harrison, Alice Austin, Tara Bryan, Sarah Bryant, Macy Chadwick, Julie Chen, Laura Davidson, Amanda Degener and Peter Koch, John DeMerritt and Nora Pauwels, Brad Freeman, Casey Gardner, Leilei Guo, Charles Hobson, Denise Lapointe, Mark Lintott and Judith Rothchild, Emily Martin, Barbara Milman, Reinhold Nasshan, Chandler O'Leary and Mary-Alice Pomputius, Felicia Rice, Caroline Saltzwedel, Shift-Lab, Robbin Ami Silverberg, Barbara Tetenbaum, Till Verclas

EDITION
Thirty are designated hors de commerce for distribution to the participants. Forty numbered copies are offered for sale.

DIMENSIONS
printed pieces: roughly A4 (8.25" x 11.75")
box: 8.75" x 12.5" x 2.25"

MEDIA
The printed works on paper were made using a variety of methods, including: letterpress, screen print, hand-set type, photopolymer, wood type, silver-gelatin, aquatint, mezzotint, intaglio, collograph, linocut, inkjet, and wood engraving. The papers are equally diverse, including: Cave Paper, St. Armand, Magnani, Zerkall, Hahnemülhe, and Fabriano. From handmade to industrial; gossamer-thin to heavyweight; kozo, cotton, and more. The complete set is housed in a custom edition varieé box from John DeMerritt, Bookbinder.

COLLECTORS
Baylor University
Brigham Young University
Carnegie Mellon University
Harvard University
Indiana University
Lafayette College
Library of Congress, Special Collections
National Library of the Netherlands
Scripps College
Stanford University
State Library of New South Wales
Swarthmore College
University of Alberta
University of Arizona Libraries
University of California, Berkeley, Bancroft Library
University of California, Los Angeles, Clark Library
University of California, Riverside
University of California, San Diego
University of California, Santa Barbara
University of California, Santa Cruz
University of Delaware
University of Miami
University of San Francisco, Gleeson Library
University of Southern California
Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries
Wesleyan University

« Back to Publications