Are You...Friends with Books? / Public Programmes 2018

Friday, 19 October

19:00 h
TransforMOTion, 2018, by artists Saskia Edens, Jérôme Karsenti and Lorenza Mondada, is a performance of ‘flying words’ realised through actions and materials. A tongue emerges from a cuneiform clay tablet, and a writing-hand captures the audience’s expressions, which are then projected. A bow tenses to target the text produced by tongue and hands. Presented by HAND ART PUBLISHER.

Saturday, 20 October

13:00 h
Doctoral Researcher and curator Eva Wilson and Dr. Katja Müller-Helle discuss the publication The Legacy of Transgressive Objects (August Verlag, 2018). According to recent historiography, the revolutionary promise of the 1968 student revolts was short-lived, although one aspect of this politicised era appears to persist throughout its history of decline: the idea of transgression. Presented by August Verlag.

14:00 h*
Artist Florian Dombois ​and Dr. Michael Lailach, Kunstbibliotek, Berlin, speak about Dombois’ This Play Sucks Cause This Is the Only Way to Join the Universe (Argobooks, 2018). Since 2002, Dombois has published more than ten artist books exploring the book as a medium in various artistic roles, including the book as an artwork, as a plinth for sculpture, as a catalogue and as an artists’ gathering space. Presented by Argobooks. *(Programme in German).

15:00 h
Artist Payam Sharifi of the collective Slavs and Tatars presents their publication, Wripped Scripped (Hatje Cantz, 2018) investigating ‘alphabets as an equally political and affective platform’. Devoted to the area known as Eurasia, Slavs and Tatars combines scholarly research, polemics, and lowbrow humor to explore mentalities, myths, traditions, and transitions. Presented by HatjeCantz.

16:00 h
Artist Abigail Reynolds and Dr. Martin Maischberger, Deputy Director of the Pergamon Museum’s Antikensammlung, discuss her artist book Lost Libraries (Hatje Cantz, 2017). Awarded Art Basel’s 2016 BMW Art Journey prize, Reynolds travelled the ancient Silk Road via motorcycle in search of historic library sites. Her film about the journey (German subtitles) is also screened. Presented by Hatje Cantz and Friends with Books.

17:00 h
Artist Heimo Zobernig, curator Moritz Küng, and graphic designer/publisher Ariadna Serrahima of IF Publications speak about Zobernig’s artist book Farben Alphabet (IF Publications, 2018). Their discussion further encompasses the process of bookmaking, their work relationship, the different status’ of monographs, catalogues and artists’ books, and their love for books in general. Presented by IF Publications.

17:00 h*
Artist Achim Lengerer hosts ‘On the Tenderness of Human Learning’, a theatrical cold reading workshop ‘Leseprobe’ in connection with his installation, Proben zu Peter Weiss / The Trotsky Rehearsals, 2018. *(Primary language is German, all languages welcome. Workshop takes place in Exhibition room).

18:00 h
Interdisciplinary art group Discoteca Flaming Star (CBG, WM, Sara Pereira) perform Ingrid (2003 – so far), 2018, exploring the life of Spanish B-movie actress Ingrid Rabel (Maria Teresa Gómez Gutierrez, 19452002), the characters she performed, and DFS’ fictional extensions. A limited edition fanzine is distributed to the audience. Presented by Friends with Books.

Sunday, 21 October

13:00 h
Artist Brad Downey and Editor Lukas Feireiss discuss the monograph Brad Downey – Slapstick Formalism: Process, Project, Object (possible books and Dokument Press, 2018). Inspired by objects in daily life, Downey uses humour and sensitivity in his work examining the urban and the rural, sacred sites and disputed borders. Presented by possible books and Dokument Press.

13:00 h*
‘Create an Artistic Book’ is a children’s bookmaking workshop organised by Les Trois Ourses, a collective focusing on publishing artists’ books for children. Based on the visual world of artist Katsumi Komagata, children use their imagination and creativity to make their own book. Presented by Les Trois Ourses and Friends with Books. *(For children ages 6+, limited to ten children, each with a parent. Workshop takes place in room adjacent to Programmes Room).

14:00 h*
Artist Bettina Allamoda and writer, translator and editor Dominikus Müller engage in ‘small-talk’ on her book SPANDEX STUDIES (Revolver Publishing, 2017). Allamoda’s work encompassing ‘Spandex Studies’ explores how physical experience is warped through the media; her sculptures and collages transfer and formalize this into concrete spacio-sensory experience. Presented by Friends with Books. *(Programme in German).

14:30 h*
Artist Andrea Brandão performs Possible Portrait (20112018) examining the multiple ways that one may present oneself, between our appearance and our projected persona. With a minimum shift from normality, Brandão repeats the gesture of dressing, becoming gradually less visible as she disappears within layers of clothing. Presented by Friends with Books. *(Performance takes place in room adjacent to Programmes Room).

15:00 h*
Artist Heidi Specker and Reinhard Braun, Artistic Director, Camera Austria, and Editor, Camera Austria International discuss her new book, Heidi Specker: Fotografie (Edition Camera Austria, 2018). They talk about photography as a fragile encounter, a perception, characterised by uncertainty—or even better, by caution or prudence, maybe even by respect (an anachronistic idea, perhaps drifted out of time). Presented by Camera Austria. *(Programme in German).

16:00 h
A shared programme featuring two readings: artist Julie Sass together with Lucy Powell and Nathan Ma read from Sass' artist book Lemon Mood (Steinprint, 2018) comprised of a series of abstract heliographs and textual lithographs; and artist Lise Harlev reads from her literary debut, I’m Never Indifferent (Broken Dimanche Press, 2018). Presented by Friends with Books and Broken Dimanche Press.

17:00 h
Artist and publisher Achim Lengerer and artist and writer Romy Rüegger discuss the publication Language is Skin: Scripts for Performances (Archive Books in collaboration with Scriptings, 2018), featuring a collection of texts intended to be spoken as ‘indications of special and temporal layering, juxtapositions of aesthetic and poetic elements and bodies’. Presented by Archive Books and Scriptings.

18:00 h
Dr. Beáta Hock and Dr. Andrej Mirčev discuss Left Performance Histories: Recollecting Artistic Practices in Eastern Europe (nGbK, 2018). Arguing against the thesis that the unofficial art scene in socialist Southeastern Europe was only subversive towards the state apparatus, the publication offers alternative readings grounded in performance works from the 1970s and ‘80s. Presented by nGbk.