STEIDL–WERK No.31: GHOSTS IN THE MACHINE is Theseus Chan and Gerhard Steidl’s latest adventure in redefining what constitutes a book. The normal starting-point for any book is blank sheets of paper, yet for STEIDL–WERK No.31 that is not the case. Instead, Chan and Steidl have taken already printed “make-ready” sheets from a recent Steidl book—the sheets produced on press while the printing plates build up the right levels of ink to deliver optimal results. Each make-ready sheet shows a different collection of inks and they are normally discarded; here they are the very heart of the book. On top of these sheets (fed into the press in a random order) is printed a new series of Chan’s ink drawings—shifting, bleeding, abstract forms or “ghosts,” which interact with the underlying images and texts in unpredictable ways. The result is an experiment with technical and optical accidents; each book in the edition, like Chan’s drawings, is unique. Presented in a cardboard box with ten posters, ten postcards and a zine, as well as a copy of Steidl Magazine No.7 edited by Chan, STEIDL–WERK No.31 is a treasure trove of offset innovation.

Limited edition of 500

Book 1
160 pages
9.1 × 11.6 in. / 23 × 29.5 cm
98 color images
Open-spine softcover

Book 2
All 10 folded signatures from book 1, unfolded, to use as posters
37.2 × 24.5 in. / 94.5 × 62 cm
98 color images

10 postcards
8.3 × 5.8 in. / 21 × 14.8 cm
10 color images

Zine “Ramblings” and Drawings
16 pages
8.3 × 11.7 in. / 21 × 29.7 cm
15 color images
Softcover

Steidl Magazine No.7
56 pages
8.3 × 11.7 in. / 21 × 29.7 cm
49 color images
Softcover

All housed in a screen-printed cardboard box