Catalogue of Steve Bishop’s solo exhibition ‘Start Over Every Morning’ (2019) at Kunstverein Braunschweig:

In his artistic practice Steve Bishop explores how mental states can be materialized and conveyed in space, through installations often involving personal belongings and mementos. By subtly distorting familiar, often intimate domestic scenarios, Bishop creates intermediate worlds in which concepts of time are suspended, and clear boundaries between private and public space, exhibition and non-exhibition are blurred.

In the exhibition, we encounter the remnants of a celebration recently passed. Constructed in the main room is a simple white kitchen, which surreally extends over the entire length of the space. Here the profoundly everyday nature of the counter meets the attempt to grasp abstract concepts of infinity. A blankness pervades the room which is punctuated by a few scattered objects: leftover cake is carefully stowed away in Tupperware boxes, recordings of jazz instrumentals drift out from a radio, and outside garden furniture is already tucked in under its plastic cover. A longing to preserve fleeting situations repeatedly arises, no matter how temporary the moment might be. In a second room, found photographs are framed together with pages of text taken from a largely forgotten self-help organization called Re-evaluation Counseling. Slogans call for self-empowerment and optimization, and one might also discern from the neat surroundings that a desire for structure, for inner and outer clarity, seems to be as desirable as it is acutely endangered.

Publishers: Kunstverein Braunschweig; Motto Books; Floating Opera Press

Buy it here

Which images are made manifest across an artist’s practice and which are the ones that disappear? How do objects—whether seen or unseen—and the knowledge they possess traverse across place and time to avow their resistance? These are amongst the questions asked by artist Nour Bishouty in her artist’s book 1—130, a project that draws upon her ongoing research into the works of her father, Ghassan Bishouty (b. 1941 Palestine – d. 2004, Jordan). In 1—130, she borrows from methods of indexing and object classification to act as figurative codes for identification and cross-reference within the contexts of value and legacy. All the while employing paratactic strategies of text and image to understand the life and work of an artist faced with the discontinuity of deracination.

1—130 constitutes reflexive encounters with a series of 130 selected paintings and sculptures made circa 1965-2004 in Lebanon and Jordan, and concludes with an afterword by editor and curator Jacob Korczynski.

1—130 is designed by Laura Pappa & Lotte Lara Schröder and co-published by Art Metropole & Motto Books.

Nour Bishouty is a visual artist working in a range of media including digital images, works on paper, sculpture, video, and writing. Her multidisciplinary practice draws upon autobiographical and material narratives to explore how dominant notions of value are articulated and exchanged, often focusing on the construction of popular identity in relation to histories of place. Nour was a fellow at the 2014/15 Home Workspace Program at Ashkal Alwan in Beirut. Her work has been exhibited in venues such as Darat Al Funun, Amman; Access Gallery, Vancouver; the Beirut Art Centre, the Helen Day Art Centre, Vermont; Casa Arabe, Madrid and Cordoba; and the Mosaic Rooms, London.

Jacob Korczynski is an independent curator and the recent recipient of a curatorial research fellowship from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. He has curated projects for the Stedelijk Museum, Cooper Cole, Western Front, and the Badischer Kunstverein and his writing has been published by art-agenda, Camera Austria, Flash Art, and BOMB. With curatorial projects taking the form of exhibitions, screenings, and publications he is also the editor of I See/La Camera: I (If I Can’t Dance I Don’t Want to Be Part of Your Revolution), Andrew James Paterson’s Collection/Correction (Kunstverein Toronto & Mousse Publishing), Jimmy Robert’s Revue (Leopold Hoesch Museum), and Nour Bishouty’s 1-130 (Art Metropole & Motto Books).

Buy it here

New date TBA

Maximiliane Baumgartner’s Ich singe nicht für Bilder schöne Lieder (I Don’t Sing Beautiful Songs for Pictures) is the first comprehensive publication that contextualizes and traces her artistic practice of the last four years in relation to the fields of painting, action (space) pedagogy, and critical research on the subject of urban planning.

The publication is a joint project of Neuer Essener Kunstverein and Kunstverein München and includes, in addition to an image section, commissioned texts by Elke Krasny, Karolin Meunier, and Moritz Scheper as well as a conversation on the artistic practice of Baumgartner between Luca Beeler, Lucy Kolb, Maurin Dietrich, Gloria Hasnay, and the artist.

Authors: Luca Beeler, Maurin Dietrich, Gloria Hasnay, Lucy Kolb, Elke Krasny, Karolin Meunier, Moritz Scheper
Publisher: Motto Books, Neuer Essener Kunstverein, Kunstverein München
Design: Ibrahim Öztaş

—

Ich singe nicht für Bilder schöne Lieder von Maximiliane Baumgartner ist die erste umfassende Publikation, die ihre künstlerische Praxis der letzten vier Jahre im Bezug zu den Handlungsfeldern der Malerei, der Aktions(-raum)pädagogik sowie kritischer Stadtraumforschung kontextualisiert und nachzeichnet.

Die Publikation ist ein Gemeinschaftsprojekt des Neuen Essener Kunstvereins und des Kunstverein München und umfasst neben einem Bildteil neue Texte von Elke Krasny, Karolin Meunier und Moritz Scheper sowie ein Gespräch zum Handlungsfeld der künstlerischen Praxis Baumgartners zwischen Luca Beeler, Lucy Kolb, Maurin Dietrich, Gloria Hasnay und der Künstlerin.

Autor*innen: Luca Beeler, Maurin Dietrich, Gloria Hasnay, Lucy Kolb, Elke Krasny, Karolin Meunier, Moritz Scheper
Herausgeber*innen: Motto Books, Neuer Essener Kunstverein, Kunstverein München
Design: Ibrahim Öztaş

Buy it here

Motto is pleased to announce our new collaboration with Polígrafa, Barcelona.

Michael Snow – Sequences – A history of his art, Gloria Moure (Ed.)
Medardo Rosso. Pioneer of Modern Sculpture, Gloria Moure (Ed.)
The Architecture of Life, Iwona Blazwick (Ed.)
Sigmar Polke: Paintings, photographs and films, Gloria Moure (Ed.)
Gordon Matta-Clark – Experience becomes the object, Pedro Donoso (Ed.)
The Feeling of things. Writings on architecture, Adam Caruso (Ed.)
Marcel Broodthaers – Collected Writings, Gloria Moure (Ed.)
Eduardo Chillida. Open-Air Sculptures, Giovanni Carandente (Ed.)
TAKING
 THE COUNTRY’S SIDE. AGRICULTURE AND ARCHITECTURE, Sébastien Marot
ECONOMY OF MEANS, Éric Lapierre
NATURAL BEAUTY, Sébastien Marot
INNER SPACE, Mariabruna Fabrizi and Fosco Lucarelli
QUADERNS #270: Europa Europa, Moisés Puente (Ed.)
QUADERNS #271: About Buildings & Food, Xavier Monteys (Ed.)
QUADERNS #272: Cosmetic Techniques, Nuria Casais, Ferran Grau (Eds.)

Co-published by osloBIENNALEN, Agency for Cultural Affairs, City of Oslo and Motto Books.

The H-block, or Høyblokka as it is called in Norwegian, was the Government Quarter’s main building. The was building was completed in 1958. Architect Erling Viksjø was inspired by the French modernist Le Corbusier, and set out to create an elegant, monumental but sober functionalism.

On 22 July 2011 at 15:25:22 (CEST), a car bomb was detonated outside H-block. The car, a Volkswagen Crafter, was parked just outside the main entrance. The bomb killed eight people and injured a further two hundred. It also left a deep crater in the ground and caused major damage to the building, which nevertheless remained standing.

The terrorist then travelled to Utøya island outside Oslo, where the Labour Party Youth Wing, AUF – Arbeiderpartiets Ungdomsforening, held its annual summer camp. Disguised as a policeman, he killed sixty-nine innocent young people and injured another sixty-six before he was stopped by the police Delta Force Group seventy minutes later.

During two nights in October 2017, sound artist Alexander Rishaug was granted permission by Statsbygg (Norwegian Directorate of Public Construction and Property) to enter Høyblokka and record the sound of the vacant building. All the interior, furniture and equipment had been removed, leaving the building completely empty and abandoned, like a ghost in the middle of Oslo city centre.

Equipped with a directional microphone, two DPAs, and a set of contact mics, Rishaug began to explore and monitor the building’s acoustics, vibrations and resonance. Y (59°54’54,76”N 10°44’46,03”Ø) is a sonic portrait of the Government Quarter, an investigation of Høyblokka’s psychoacoustic state, at a point in time between past and future, before it is renovated, refurbished, and put to new uses as a political and administrative centre. In the title of this soundscape, the Y represents the Y-block and the coordinates (59°54’54,76”N 10°44’46,03”Ø) locate the H-block and the Government Quarter
.

The album and art project is part of
 and co-produced by osloBIENNALEN, FIRST EDITION 2019 – 2024, curated by Eva González-Sancho Bodero and 
Per Gunnar Eeg-Tverbakk. osloBIENNALEN is initiated and financed by the City of Oslo, Agency for Cultural Affairs, Norway.

The project could not have been realized without the funding and courage from URO / KORO and Bo Krister Wallström.

Recorded inside Høyblokka, Oslo:
29 October 2017, 05:38PM–11:45AM
30 October 2017, 03:30PM–06:47AM

Recording assistant: Ilay Bachke
Mixed and edited by Alexander Rishaug at SinZen Studio, Oslo, 2018 – 2019
Mastered by Helge Sten 
at Audio Virus Lab, Oslo
Mastercut by Helmut Erler at
 Dubplates & Mastering, Berlin
Design by Blank Blank / Petri Henriksson and Sandra Stokka
Photos by Arne B. Langleite and Alexander Rishaug, October 2017
Cover photo by Teigens Fotoatelier circa 1960, Dextra Photo/NorskTeknisk Museum.
Backside photo by Arne B. Langleite

Copy Editing by Martin Berner Mathiesen
Booklet printed by Livonia Print Ltd.
Vinyl pressing by Optimal Media
Vinyl manufacturing by handle with care

The dialogue with Statsbygg regarding the recording sessions in Høyblokka were coordinated by Charlotte Hagelund and Jan Christensen.

Thanks to 22. juli-senteret for their trust and support and for granting permission to record during closing hours.

Thanks to Ebba Moi for endless love and support, Per Henrik Svalastog for critical feedback, Statsbygg for granting permission, DSS – Departementenes sikkerhets- og serviceorganisasjon for guiding us safely around the building.

Buy it here

This book is published as part of Marianne Heier’s project or osloBIENNALEN FIRST EDITION 2019-2024.

Marianne Heier performed her project And Their Spirits Live On, first at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera in Milan and then at Oslo’s former Museum of Contemporary Art.
How can a centuries-old plaster cast of a two thousand-year-old sculpture speak to us today?Plaster copies of ancient Greek and Roman sculptures have formed the basis for much of the history of art. Right up until modern times artists in the western tradition learned to draw and shape works from such models. When the National Gallery was built, the central building housed a collection of these classical plaster casts. Marianne Heier has chosen to make a performance among the plaster copies at the Academy of Art in Milan where she herself studied, and later in the empty bank premises which until recently housed the Museum of Contemporary Art – drawing attention to the potential power in these figures. They are archetypes that we still refer to, although we are often unaware of this. Heier’s performance takes the form of a museum guided tour in which she takes the role of guide, situating the plaster sculptures in wider histories. Using texts taken from classical mythology and political resistance movements, she shows the potentially radical possibilities of the sculptures. The mythology from which these classical figures are taken is full of critiques of power, gender issues and identity politics that perhaps suggest a need for civil courage in the political climate of our own times.

The performance was co-curated by osloBIENNALEN curators and Alessandra Pioselli and was produced in collaboration with students and employees at the Project School in Oslo.

Buy it here

Tales 37, Lago di Braies, Dolomiti, Italy, September 2011

Published by Motto Books and ENSP Arles
numbered edition of 500

Buy it here

Terremoto 12

Independencias
Independences

Dorothée Dupuis (Ed.)
Terremoto, Motto Books