“A scale model of our solar system in twelve 500 page volumes. / The width of each page equals one million kilometres. / On page 1 the Sun. On page 6,000 Pluto.” (artist website) In between the other planets, but above all darkness and blackness. The series transfers the unimaginable distances and dimensions of the universe into book format and makes them comprehensible and “traversable.”

The work has attracted great media attention and high appreciation from collectors and institutions. Originally planned as an open edition, only 130 sets were ultimately produced before production was halted by the printer—apparently because Lulu changed to thinner paper and production was no longer possible, but, in reality, probably for reasons of unprofitability due to high ink consumption caused by the almost entirely black pages (proving that Holly Melgard’s Black Friday and Jean Keller’s The Black Book did indeed hit a sore spot in the platform economy). The 130 produced sets have become a highly sought-after, overpriced collector’s item against the artist’s will.

Previously, the artist had complained several times to Lulu about insufficient quality: The books were cut incorrectly or bound poorly, their height was not always uniform, making their compilation as a twelve-volume set impossible, and sometimes the books arrived blank or the black was printed spottily. This is also the reason why the set could later only be ordered from the artist himself. The copy in our library (vol. 9) is one that was discarded by the artist because of poor print quality. In view of this, one cannot always be sure whether the tiny white dots are actually stars in the black vastness of space or printing errors. In 2022, Henner was able to get Lulu to resume production, so together with the Bavarian State Library we were able to acquire a complete set for our collection after all.

There is also a single-channel video, nearly ten minutes long, named Astronomical (the Movie) in which volume one is flipped through page by page. It features the sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, and the Asteroid Belt, and served the artist Hermann Zschiegner as the basis for the bootleg he made.