Jochen Höller is one of the most striking conceptual artists in contemporary Austrian art. For some twenty-five years, he has been developing an artistic practice that is based on the radical transformation of books. He does not use them as reading material, but as a starting point that serves as a raw material, archive, and space for reflection. With his knife, he dissects words, punctuation marks, or text fragments from works that are part of social systems of power and knowledge and have helped shape our thinking. These extracted elements are used to create delicate paper works, sculptural objects, and expansive installations that deconstruct and recontextualize the book at the same time.
Reading with a knife, Höller consistently translates his method of linguistic and visual reorganization into the form of a book. This publication is both a retrospective review and an independent work of art – a hybrid form between a book object, collage, and conceptual text art. It builds a bridge between artistic practice and theoretical reflection, bringing together images of works, experimental texts from Höller’s Textmaschinen, and essays by renowned authors who examine the oeuvre from art-historical, curatorial, philosophical, and socio-critical perspectives. (from the foreword by Gerda Ridler)
Hardcover with half-linen binding_DE/EN_24 x 17 cm_416 pages_limited, numbered, and signed edition of 350 copies – each a one-of-a-kind object
