KRISTJAN GUDMUNDSSON, Once around the sun; Volume I and II, 1975
each 26,3 x 26,7 x 6 cm
offset, SC, book object, 2 volumes
hand bound by the artist, 1st edition
only ca 6-8 copies came into production
signed, numbered / extremely rare
published by Silver Press, Reykjavik / Amsterdam
Collection Kees van Gelder, Amsterdam
€ 10.000,- plus courier costs, Margin Scheme
inv.KG 000-pr

This edition consists of two volumes that is hand bound (Lümbeck method) by Kristján Gudmundsson while he was living in Daniel Stalpertstraat, Amsterdam during the seventies. One book object contains parallel horizontal lines on each page. The second volume contains hundreds of full stops on each page. Both books are three times thicker than the reprinted version by Ottenhausen Verlag in 1982. The front page states that each line is equal to seconds, id est all lines together represent the total amount of 29,771 meters it takes for the earth to once orbit around the sun; equal to one year.
In 1976 the artist made volume II making use of the notion ‘time’ using dots instead of lines to visualize the length of the orbit around the sun. The front page states that each point is equal to a second. All points together represent the amount of seconds it takes for the earth to once orbit around the sun.

The production of this self published book by Silver Press – owned by the artist – was very laborious and definitely no more than 6 – 8 copies were made, i.e. oppositie to the hand bound and ‘1st edition of 50 copies’ that is mentioned on the website of bookshop Boekie Woekie. In the seventies, on a regular basis I visited Kristjan’s house in Daniel Stalpertstraat in Amsterdam being confronted with how slowly the production of these copies were made.
In 1982 Ottenhausen Verlag in Aachen / Munich, Germany, took over the project and published 100 copies which were remarkably less voluminous than the original book object hand made by the artist. With the reprint the width of the spine of each volume is shrunken to almost half of its size, making the work less sculptural than the original.

Deutsche Sprache
Volumen I: Den Zeitraum, den der Planet Erde zur Umrundung der Sonne benötigt, nennt man ein Jahr. Das Kalenderjahr (tropisches Jahr) hat 365 Tage 5 Stunden 48 Minuten und 45,98 Sekunden = 31 556 926 Sekunden.Jeder Punkt in Band I entspricht einer Sekunde. Volumen II: Die Wegstrecke, die der Planet Erde in einer Sekunde zurücklegt, beträgt 29 771 Meter (Mittelwert). Die Linien in Band II entsprechen in ihrer Gesamtlänge dieser Wegstrecke.
2 Bände (724/720 Seiten)

This book is a by Kristjan Gudmundsson hand made object while he was living in Daniel Stalpertstraat, Amsterdam during the seventies. The book object contains hundreds of full stops on each page and is three times thicker than the reprinted version by Ottenhausen Verlag in 1982. The front page states that each point is equal to a second. All points together represent the amount of seconds it takes for the earth to once orbit around the sun. In 1976 the artist made volume II making use of the notion ‘space’ using lines instead of full stops to visualize the orbit of the earth around the sun in length.

Additional information

KRISTJAN GUDMUNDSSON, Once around the sun, 1982
each 27,6 x 27 x 3,5 cm
offset, two books in slipcase
not signed, not numbered (as published)
edition 100
SC, book, 2nd ed.
published by Ottenhausen Verlag, Aachen / München 1982

History of prices:
Antiquariat Uebue, Zurich, Switzerland GBP 3.342,55 July 2025 – 2nd edition, unsigned as issued
Boekie Woekie Amsterdam € 4.000,00 March 2024 (2nd edition, set with water damage ‘…quite badly stained’)
Antiquariat Uebue, Zurich, Switzerland, December 2024 € 4.217,56 – 2nd edition, unsigned as issued
Antiquariat Uebue, Zurich, Switzerland, June 2022 US$ 4,101.88 – 2nd edition, unsigned as issued
Boekie Woekie Amsterdam € 4.000,00 February 2022 (2nd edition, set with water damage)
Boekie Woekie, Amsterdam € 1.600,00 November 2012 – 2nd edition, unsigned as issued