Opera out of the Box. 2009–2019, The Cahn Years at Opera Vlaanderen
This monumental 720-page book is housed in an arty slipcase with three different covers, with pictures by the artists that collaborated with Aviel Cahn on communicating and working around the seasonal themes during the last five years; as such contemporary artists Koen van den Broek, Kati Heck and Maurizio Cattelan (ToiletPaper) found a new gallery space in their collaboration with Opera Vlaanderen. Opera Out of the Box takes the reader on a trip of seventy productions from the last decade. Moving from text to image, the book then turns into a 200-page photo gallery, a true feast for the eye.
Throughout the book’s interior layout a visible green grid is used (“the box”), which is intentionally violated in some places.
Two types of body text can be distinguished: the main text, and short essays by guest writers. The distinction between these two is made clear through a different grid and differences in typography. The book is set in Bressay (Dalton Maag), with titles and quotes set in Dharma Gothic (Ryoichi Tsunekawa / Dharma Type). Translations are listed one after the other, the grid and typographical interventions make clear the separation between the languages.