Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna
November 2017
November 8, 2017–January 28, 2018
What is the role of art publishing today? How have artists adapted modes of publishing as a tool for their practice? How has the notion of artists’ publishing activity changed, given the ever-increasing amount of fairs and an ever-evolving number of book-related collections in contemporary art museums? Publishing has developed as a favorite site and medium for aesthetic and artistic experimentation. It has also become an alternative space for promoting unrestricted individual or collective discourse. The multi-part exhibition project Publishing as an Artistic Toolbox: 1989–2017 explores the potentials of publishing—in the form of books, magazines, journals, artistic interventions, and websites—as a particular medium and context to circulate information and knowledge, and to produce art.
Like a toolbox, the project is composed of different parts, sections, and components. Publishing as an Artistic Toolbox: 1989–2017 opens up and unfolds through different propositions: by material exhibits on display, through the presentation of time-based events, and through an offsite project.
A number of artists for whom publishing plays an important role in their practice have been invited to submit three books that have influenced their views or attitudes toward publishing. Each selection is accompanied by a short statement on their choice.
Participants: Cory Arcangel, Tauba Auerbach, Julie Ault, Darren Bader, Martin Beck, Maurizio Cattelan, Mariana Castillo Deball, Alejandro Cesárco, Paul Chan, Claude Closky, Michael Dean, Jason Dodge, Nathalie Du Pasquier, Peter Friedl, Ryan Gander, Dora García, Liam Gillick, Nicolás Guagnini, Karl Holmqvist, Emily Jacir, Brian Kennon, Ben Kinmont, Pierre Leguillon, Jochen Lempert, Jonathan Monk, Olaf Nicolai, Sophie Nys, Michalis Pichler, Florian Pumhösl, Max Renkel, Michael Riedel, Willem de Rooij, Yann Sérandour, Josh Smith, Heimo Zobernig