Art and the City

Book published by Corner House (2012)

Art and the City is published on the occasion of the international festival of the same name held in Zurich in summer 2012. Inviting more than 40 artists to present works in the public space, the ... [more ▼]

Art and the City is published on the occasion of the international festival of the same name held in Zurich in summer 2012. Inviting more than 40 artists to present works in the public space, the manifestation takes as a point of departure the transformation of the west area of Zurich from an industrial zone to a trendy residential neighbourhood. Gathering together contributions by artists such as Ai Weiwei, Martin Creed, Hamish Fulton, Matt Mullican, Bettina Pousttchi, Oscar Tuazon among many others, this book explores the condition of cities in the twenty-first century through the history of art interventions and discussions in the public realm. [less ▲]

Serpentine Gallery Manifesto Marathon

Book published by Koenig Books (2009)

Manifesto Marathon is the third in Hans Ulrich Obrist's series of Marathon events at London's Serpentine Gallery. Coming at a moment when manifestos, having ceased to spearhead artistic movements, seem ... [more ▼]

Manifesto Marathon is the third in Hans Ulrich Obrist's series of Marathon events at London's Serpentine Gallery. Coming at a moment when manifestos, having ceased to spearhead artistic movements, seem ripe for reinvention, Manifesto Marathon collects statements and declarations of all kinds from artists and contributors from the worlds of literature, design, science, philosophy, music and film. Highlights include Nicolas Bourriaud's "Altermodern," Paul Chan's "Sex and the New Way, V.I.," Jimmie Durham's "No More Silly Hats," Fritz Haeg's "London: A Manifesto From Your Animals," David Hockney's "Manifesto for Smoking," Adam Pendleton's "Black Dada," Agnes Varda's "What To Do?," Ben Vautier's "I Don't Know What To Do," Ai Wewei's "Despicable Things," Vivienne Westwood's "AR," Lebbeus Woods' "Slow Manifesto," plus interviews with Eric Hobsbawm and Tino Sehgal, and a wealth of photographs from the event. [less ▲]

00s – The History of a Decade that has not yet been named

Book published by les Presses du réel (2007)

The curators of the ninth Lyon Biennial approached the task of mapping the moment in contemporary art playfully: by commissioning a polyphonic history and geography book. With 70 "players" from around the ... [more ▼]

The curators of the ninth Lyon Biennial approached the task of mapping the moment in contemporary art playfully: by commissioning a polyphonic history and geography book. With 70 "players" from around the world, the "game" of how to define the decade unfolded via a series of delegations, invitations and programs in which artists proposed their responses and critics and curators sequenced and challenged them, in turn suggesting artists of their own. Reframing the unfolding present from within, creatively rethinking the role of the artist as well as that of serious play, and reconsidering the now-ubiquitous and decreasingly authoritative biennial exhibition, these myriad voices, framed by only a few rules, became participants in an exercise in collective self-determination. This lavishly illustrated publication, designed by the renowned Parisian firm M/M and edited by Biennial curators Hans Ulrich Obrist and Stéphanie Moisdon, includes previously unpublished essays by Michel Houellebecq, Okwui Enwezor and Ralph Rugoff, and functions as a manual for "a decade yet to be named a present that is endlessly arriving." [less ▲]