Contemporary art

The contributions in this reader seek to understand how artists move through the world, and how that movement might necessitate other roles to pursue a project, a position, a politics, or a practice.

The importance of Gordon Matta-Clark's work in a revaluation of architecture after modernism.

Through numerous previously unpublished pictures and essays, this publication explores the history of the playground as it was shaped by education, architecture, art, and politics, and pays tribute to the most important figures, many of them forgotten today (second revised and expanded edition).

This collective publication discusses the renewed encounter between dance and performance and the institutions of global contemporary art, marking one of the most significant set of developments in the art field over the last decade.

Ten texts on the architecture of displacement set to music and sung by Albanian iso-polyphonic singers—commissioned for the Albanian Pavilion at the 15th Venice Biennale of Architecture (songs based on texts by Etel Adnan, Mourid Barghouti, Michel Butor, Claire Fontaine, Yona Friedman, Anri Sala, Michael Taussig, Yanis Varoufakis, Ornela Vorpsi, and Finn Williams).

In this lecture, creative director Virgil Abloh takes us behind the scenes of his design process, sharing the essentials of editing, problem-solving, and storytelling.

Monographic study dedicated to director, video artist and photographer Clarisse Hahn. Edited by Nicole Brenez, the publication gathers writings encompassing the variety of her work, from contemporary art to cinema, guerilla groups, and eroticism; conversations with Clarisse Hahn, artists, and art historians; and a series of reproductions of her artworks, photographs, photograms, and videograms.

A collection of visual incursions by Italian artist Emilio Prini in dozens of exhibition catalogues and print publications over the course of five decades. Meticulously researched, and yet necessarily incomplete, this book is a glimpse into the subtlety with which Prini turned each engagement with the world of ideas into a joust for mastery over space, time, and form.

An interdisciplinary analysis of the city of Palermo commissioned by Manifesta 12 and undertaken by the Office for Metropolitan Architecture. The research explores the architecture, archaeology and anthropology of the city, its historical archives and personal stories.

A compilation of Lina Bo Bardi's tenure as director of Habitat, a publication self-dubbed “the magazine of the arts in Brazil”. Between 1950 and 1954, Habitat documented Bo Bardi's early thoughts on Brazilian culture, as well as reflecting her very personal take on modernism. Edited and designed by Julia, with contributions by Tamar Guimarães, Claudia Leisinger, Tony de Marco, Lara Viana and Tuca Vieira.

Issues 13 to 15 of the critical review dedicated to graphic design. Compilation includes studies on Peter Bil'ak's essay on the exhibition of graphic design; the posters produced by M/M (Paris) for CDDB-Théâtre de Lorient; and the collaboration between studio Spassky Fischer and Marseille's MUCEM.

The current panoply of private initiatives in the museum world.

The 2018 edition of the Jahresring, guest-edited and designed by Wolfgang Tillmans.

This catalogue surveys the work of object design creator Ineke Hans.

35 years after the release of their critically acclaimed albumVibrant Stapler Obscures Characteristic Growth the British dadaist group Hastings of Malawi have released a new album—an epic sound poem entitled Visceral Underskinnings. It is a 40 minute film without light that reflects on the human condition, on modern society, on the nature of telephony and electricity and an attempt to make sense of the world in which we live that provides no answers.

A panorama of the world of do-it-yourself fanzines.

Juillet features a small selection of Ronan Bouroullec's recent drawings.

Limited special edition, signed and numbered by the artist with a custom seal. Also included is a card of the 50th and final lifecast self portrait of Edmier made on the exact minute of his 50th birthday and the day of the exhibition opening at Petzel Gallery. Special editions come in a set of 2 books: one first edition copy & one sealed and signed by the artist with the final card.

This publication examines the new paradigms of creation, dissemination and teaching of photography in the digital age. Resulting from a research project by the Master Photography at ECAL/University of Art and Design Lausanne, the publication includes a series of essays and interviews, productions done by the Master's students, together with a selection of representative works.

Archivio is a new half-yearly magazine focused on archive's culture, in its many dimensions.This first issue features: Soviet subcultures; computer pioneer Charles Babbage; Studs Terkel radio archive; Milan's economic boom; Eighties Florence; the Whitechapel Gallery's archive; Stokholm city archives; fashion writer Anna Piaggi; young Pasolini; Joan Brossa's archives at MACBA; a project by Ugo la Pietra; scores by Sylvano Bussotti; film archives from Lucio Fulci and Kon Ichikawa, and much more…

Will Sweeney's new graphic narrative is set in a retrofuturistic England ruled by a twisted elite who exploits a population inhabiting decadent urban centers. Monsters populate this strange world, and humanity's last chance lies in the power of the Vorpal Sword—a metaphysical blade of vital creative energy…

During his exhibition at Westfälischer Kunstverein in Münster, artist Zin Taylor invited musicians Christina Vantzou and John Also Bennett to interpret a 90-meter panoramic wall drawing as a musical graphic score. This vinyl edition gathers the recording of this minimal music performance, along with a 180 cm leporello reproduction of the wall drawing.

The first monographic publication dedicated to one of the foremost artists of his generation and a key figure in the development of Bucharest's artistic community in the early 2000s.

Based entirely on the work of Armin Linke, Accattone #5 explores photography in relation to the major architecture of public and private institutions: the infrastructure of the Roman Empire, neoclassical Athens, the United Nations headquarters, neo-liberal corporate environments and the fragile European institutions in Brussels.

A compendium of essays, scripts, poems, and proposals compiled by the anonymous collective Studio for Propositional Cinema for their eponymous show at the Kestner Gesellschaft in Hannover. It investigates notions of script and staging in exhibition display. It features reknowned contributors such as Paul Chan, Keren Cytter, Irena Haiduk, John Miller, Cally Spooner, Lawrence Weiner et Christopher Williams.

An historical account of walking as an artistic practice inside Surrealism, the Situationist International, and Fluxus.

Exhibition catalogue documenting the eponymous sculptural project showcasing silicone impressions of Berlin's bullet-ridden facades from the Second World War. These architectural traces embody trauma and time, from the war to nowadays. The publication catalogues these facades and focuses on the making of the project. It features a text by writer Deborah Levy.

This catalogue surveys the literature on our relationship to a world of machines, new technologies, and electronic devices. It brings thoughts on automation and its promises, primarily the end of labor. The publication unfolds a bibliography and chronology on the subject.

This catalogue is conceived as a continuation and circulation of Saraceno's eponymous sound project: The artist uses spider webs as musical instruments embodying the incredible structural properties of the spider's silk, but also the spider's sophisticated mode of communication through vibrations. Saraceno recorded jam sessions between arachnids and musicians, included in this publication, as well as documentation, essays, and a manifesto.

This catalogue is a visual journey through the artist's show at Mudam Luxembourg. It centers on Almond's series of cosmos-inspired abstract paintings Timescape. Produced in conjunction with the publication, the record All Things Pass highlights the musical dimension of the artist's eponymous video installation. The soundtrack embodies both the tradition of music in Northern India and an experimental approach, expressing links between cosmic and human existence.

In recent years, most diverse disciplines have been stressing the importance of matter within the web of relationships of culture and nature. This publication focuses on this new material phenomena in arts in relation to the humanities and social sciences and brings together contributions by academic staff at the cx centre for interdisciplinary studies at the Academy of Fine Arts Munich as well as selected artistic work by students.

Catalogue of the exhibition-manifesto curated by Nicolas Bourriaud, which takes as its starting point the integration of the notion of Anthropocene in today's artistic scene: the publication proposes an exploration of the output of a new generation of artists who are working on reality, and doing away with the traditional division between the notions of “culture” and “nature.” The catalogue reviews each exhibited work in detail, and offers an enlightening glossary.

Issues 5 to 8 of the critical review dedicated to Graphic design. Compilation includes studies on the following subjects: an Instagram post by studio Experimental Jetset for the Paradiso cultural centre in Amsterdam; a series of gestures, from Harun Farocki to L'Architecture Aujourd'hui; the publication Parallel Encyclopedia by Batia Suter; Charles Mazé & Coline Sunier's residency at the Villa Médicis.

First comprehensive monograph on British experimental filmmaker Ben Rivers.

Catalogue accompanying a selection of works by the German artist showcased at Castello di Rivoli. Weisz combines references to Renaissance art, psychoanalysis, memories and the female body, creating complex and poetic installations, inspired by a text by poet Paul Celan.

This catalogue is part of a project investigating the decentralization of the hegemonic and indisputable model of western artistic modernity in the current geo-political scenario. It attempts to reflect on the construction that the West has made of Africa through works from major collections on Italian colonial history, as well as from Fondation Cartier in Paris. It also includes texts from key postcolonial figures W. E. B. Du Bois, Édouard Glissant, and Léopold Sédar Senghor.

Luxurious bilingual monograph dedicated to Hans Hartung, bringing together numerous works from 1922 to 1989. Directed by Matthieu Poirier, the richly documented publication features a full-color central section with reproductions of Hartung's paintings. Appendix includes a text by Jean Clay and an interview with Pierre Soulages by Pierre Encrevé, in which the painter discusses his friendship with Hartung.

The first four issues of the critical review dedicated to the analysis of Graphic design, published by Empire books (studio Syndicat). Each publication documents a specific object, addressed by a renowned author: the Rouge-gorge series at Éditions Cent pages by S.P. Millot; the database colorlibrary.ch by studio Maximage; the monograph Recollected Work by Mevis & Van Deursen; and the invitation cards by the artist Stanley Brouwn.

This catalogue celebrates the work of a major artist whose practice is situated in between contemporary art and cinema. It gathers a large selection of still films in high quality, a text by art historian Fabien Danesi, and an alphabet book drawing on Leccia's art through personal memories, anecdotes, and working issues.

A collaboration between Toilet Paper and Martin Parr.

A collaboration between Toilet Paper and Martin Parr, in a limited edition, with an exclusive tote bag included.

Monograph devoted to Georges Tony Stoll's painting, with a hundred reproductions, a long essay by Éric de Chassey and eight unpublished texts by the artist.

The portfolio of the exhibition at the Jeu de Paume.

A collection of texts written by patients of a hospital center, following photographs taken by the artist Richard Louvet.

A portrait of the artist as an inspiring teacher: this publication focuses on Baldessari's practice at the intersection between pedagogy and art. Visually organized in alphabetical order, Learning To Read features essays, artworks, a chronology, and personal insights on Baldessari's teaching and influence by a group of the artist's former students and CalArts collaborators such as Ashley Bickerton, Liz Craft, Meg Cranston, Matt Mullican, and Tony Oursler.

After Rambo, Beni Bischof gives an entertaining and unique interpretation of Disney classic Bambi. Both funny and disturbing.

This artist's book is based on an Adirondack furniture book donated to Philippe Weisbecker 20 years ago by a New York friend who worked in a hardware store.

This publication is an adaptation of a public statement by art critic Annika Bender, the editor-in-chief of the Donnerstag-Blog, on why her blog was discontinued. Bender was in fact a fictitious character created by artists Dominic Osterried and Steffen Zillig. The two artists discuss why they deemed a certain form of masked critique important and necessary in our times.

Catalogue celebrating the first European retrospective of the artist and pedagogue Beatriz González: the publication explores 50 years of plural and polymorphic work, inspired by the historical and cultural realities of Colombia. It features a rich selection of images and a critical apparatus which explores the artist's career while revealing the contemporaneity of her work.

This artist's book is a documentation of the production, installation, and decomposition of Samara Scottis solo exhibition “Silk at Eastside Projects”, Birmingham, in 2015. For the project, Scott gathered materials such as eyeshadow, cistern block, tapioca, pipe-cleaners, scented candles, graphite, mustard, solar reflective roofing paint, aquarium gravel, and red wine, among others.