Artist's book: a collection of advertisement photos, slogans and messages that constitute our contemporary media landscape.
This artists' book by the celebrated Swiss artist-duo gathers 800 images taken from worldwide magazine advertisements. Designed by NORM in close collaboration with the artists, the book, stemming from Fischli/Weiss' contribution to the Ringier AG Annual Report 2007 (following Richard Prince's Jokes & Cartoons), is a very generous if slightly nauseating collection of photos, slogans, and messages that constitute our contemporary media landscape. Organized in loose categories, they plunge the reader in a flow of images whose commercial dimension recedes to let their (often unplanned) narrative qualities freely develop into an unlikely account of life's journey.
Peter Fischli (born 1952 in Zurich) and David Weiss (born 1946 in Zurich, died on 27 April 2012) have been collaborating since 1979 on a body of work that humorously celebrates the sheer banality of everyday existence. Indebted to Dada, Surrealism, Pop Art, and Conceptual Art, utilising a variety of media including photography, film, video, artists' books, installation and sculpture, their work playfully ignores the traditional distinction between high and low art, while at the same time commenting on the human condition. Fischli & Weiss have represented Switzerland at the Venice Biennale several times during their career.
