Paper Passion
Gerhard Steidl
Steidl
English
Designed by perfumer Geza Schoen
Hardcover with box
120 x 165 mm
2012
ISBN 9783869305011
Paper Passion Perfume captures the unique bouquet of freshly printed books. Designed by boutique perfumer Geza Schoen in close consultation with Gerhard Steidl and in collaboration with Wallpaper magazine, the perfume expresses that peculiar mix of paper and ink which gives a book its unmistakable aroma, along with the fresh scent which a book opened for the first time releases. Schoen spent days in the depths of the paper-filled Steidl headquarters in Göttingen, sifting through books, papers samples and inks, to find inspiration for a perfume that is true to books, wearable, and which ages well in time just like a good book. It took Schoen seventeen trials to preserve in his words, the right balance between the smell of paper as such and an enjoyable perfumistic aesthetic. The elaborate packaging of Paper Passion Perfume does more than justice to the perfume within. The packaging is a real book with a hidden cut-out compartment in which the bottle sits. The first pages of the book contain texts on the pleasures of paper and the Paper Passion project by Nobel Laureate Günter Grass, Karl Lagerfeld, Geza Schoen and Wallpaper* Editor-in-Chief Tony Chambers. The end product is a unique perfume, an homage to the luxurious sensuality of books and in Karl Lagerfelds words, the silent smell of paper.
Description of Form
The book is stored in a cardboard box wrapped in red delicate tissue paper. Once the book has been unwrapped it has a diameter of 305mm. Upon opening the book there are a few pages of text with quotes from various designers. After these pages a hidden cut out which fits perfectly the enclosed perfume bottle. The smell is mimicking the beloved smell of books.
About the Artist
Gerhard Steidl, born in 1950, founded his own publishing house in 1968 and worked as a printer and designer. He now publishes the world’s largest program of books of contemporary photography and an ambitious literary program. In addition, he devises and curates international exhibitions. In 2020, he became the first non-photographer to receive the Sony World Photography Award for Outstanding Contribution to Photography and the Mainz Gutenberg Award. In 2021, he was awarded the Grand Order of Merit by the federal state of Lower Saxony. In the same year, his publishing house won the federal government’s German Publishing Award. Steidl is also the initiator and founding director of the gallery Kunsthaus Göttingen, which opened in early 2021.
(source https://www.litcologne.de/en/contributers/gerhard-steidl)
About the Designer
Geza Schön is a German master perfumer born in Kassel and based in Berlin. He trained at Haarmann & Reimer (now Symrise) and has worked with Diesel, Ormonde Jayne, FCUK, biehl parfumkunstwerke, and Boudicca. In 2006, Schön created the brand Escentric Molecules, a perfume brand highlighting single molecules. He received the Outstanding Artist Award for Interdisciplinarity in 2016, then, in 2017, the Sadakichi Award for Experimental Work with Scent, together with Wolfgang Georgsdorf for “Osmodrama / Smeller 2.0”.
(sourcehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geza_Sch%C3%B6n)
About the Publisher
Born in Göttingen in 1950, Gerhard Steidl began working as a printer and designer in 1969. Soon the customers of his screen-printing workshop included Joseph Beuys, Marcel Broodthaers and Nam June Paik, among other well-known artists. In 1972, the first Steidl book Befragung der documenta (Questioning documenta) was published. From political non-fiction he then expanded into literature and selected books on art and photography.
steidl.de
Further Reading
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/05/22/gerhard-steidl-is-making-books-an-art-form
