Der in Zürich lebende Fotograf Peter Tillessen hat diesen Sommer gleich zwei Bücher - 40 JAHRE KERNSPALTUNG und DICTATORS - fertig gestellt und lädt nun zur Doppelbuchvernissage. Neben der Buchpräsentation werden Fotos gezeigt und Peter Tillessen wird eine wissenschaftliche Lesung halten. Anschliessend gibt es Eintopf und vielleicht einen Dessert aus Tillessens Geheimrezeptbuch.

Erschienen sind die Bücher bei Kodoji Press, wobei die Pressetexte einen Einblick ins Tillessensche Universum gben:

40 JAHRE KERNSPALTUNG/40 YEARS OF NUCLEAR FISSION

40 Years of Nuclear Fission looks like an old scientific textbook that explains the origins of nuclear fission, illustrated by captivating black and white photographs of sculptural shapes. In fact the book is not an academic but personal compilation by photographer Peter Tillessen. The 40 photographs show excrements of the black-headed earthworm, which aggressively ploughs through a cemetery in Zurich. The pictures of those fragile sculptures are contrasted with parts from the detailed descriptions of nuclear fission from the original book, a text by Darwin that explains the work of earthworms and a text by the artist, who describes his childhood in the atomic age as a son of an atomic engineer. The number 40 is in this compilation no accident: Tillessen took the pictures on his –rainy– fortieth birthday for one of his best friends to pay off his debts from a bet – as he wasn't a father of a big family (like his father) at the age of 40. That’s what he had pretended to his friend at the age of 27. The design of the book in the book accentuates the biographical fission within the big context of the atomic age: particularly the way the photographer examines the father's book to reflect his own situation and to become aware of the earth's fragility. At the end it's all about evolution. 40 Years of Nuclear Fission is the third publication in his series at Kodoji Press.

DICTATORS

Dictators is based on Peter Tillessen's observation, that the style of female pubes often resembles the moustaches of politicians. Whether the personal is political or not, Tillessen drew 18 sketches in his Moleskine, which are all represented in this black and white Xerox-printed booklet. The publication is housed in a white paper bag with a self-made potato stamping by the artist and his daughter. Dictators is the second publication in his series at Kodoji Press.