WOLFGANG TILLMANS, Soldiers: The Nineties (Four-Hole Copy), Walther König, Cologne, 1999

Published in 1999 alongside Tillmans's Soldiers – The Nineties project, the book grew out of a decade of looking at how young men in uniform appeared through photography and the media. Tillmans combined photographs he made himself with images he collected, allowing repetition and circulation to become as important as any single photograph. The project was shown that year at Interim Art / Maureen Paley in London, Andrea Rosen Gallery in New York, and elsewhere.

This copy carries four punctures to the rear cover, positioned close to its corners. Their regular placement suggests something practical rather than accidental: at some point the book appears to have been attached or mounted to another surface. For display? Storage? A shop? An exhibition? There is no surviving evidence that allows us to say.

Which is exactly where this copy becomes interesting. A publication already concerned with the movement and repetition of images has itself passed through an undocumented physical use. Four holes are all that remain of it.

The New Rare identifies this as the Four-Hole Copy — a copy-specific state within the edition. No history has been assigned beyond what the object itself can support.

One publication. Many copies. This one passed through something.