Gro e Komplikation / Grande Complication

Paper is a delicate material, and a sheet of printed paper has much to endure when it enters a bookbindery. Here it is run through a host of machines where it is cut, folded, sewn, glued, knocked into shape, piled and packed. But not only does that sheet of paper miraculously survive this gauntlet without a crease or tear, it also becomes part of an immaculate book.
The processes of bookbinding can be observed in the three factories of the Offizin Andersen Nexö complex in Leipzig. There each bindery has a different area of specialty and together they offer unique possibilities for producing books. Koto Bolofo’s photographs tell the story of paper as it becomes a book, and thereby give insight into each branch of the company in Leipzig, Zwenkau and Tunisia.
A clockwork is an intricate construction composed of hundreds of perfectly interlocking pieces. Particularly complex clockworks are given the name grandes complications by experts. The processes necessary to bind a book can be just as complicated – and not on the scale of a wristwatch but of a football field.