Salon für Kunstbuch

“body to book” is an upcycling project that explores the relationship between the human body and books. It comprises six sculptures composed of coat fragments and books, each covering a naked male body.
The photographs were taken in 2023 during a performance initiated by INDEX in Venice. The publication is designed as a calendar-like pictorial documentation of this situation and reveals an interplay of publishing, fashion, and exhibitionism that is articulated in the connection between body, coat, and book.

They communicate across the Atlantic by email, no phone. She initiates the collaboration by sending an essay (by Perec). He replies with five photographs and a list. Months pass. She sends
her essay for the project. He sends back 16 photographs produced in response. The essay and images are the result of the collaboration between Catherine Parayre and Josh Müller commissioned in 2024 by the Palais des Beaux Arts Wien for their online collection (#51).
The final online project for the Palais des Beaux Arts Wien was launched with a speech performance in public space. The print edition, this book, documents the entire process with a dynamic remix of the text, visuals and photographs used as raw materials. Graphic design: Alexandra Möllner / Hannah Sakai ISBN: 9783902374318

Susan Philipsz is one of the internationally most renowned contemporary artists. Her art explores the boundaries between sculpture and sound, between materiality and immateriality.

Her works frequently react to the places where her exhibitions are staged, connecting to past events and creating spaces of resonance for memories and emotions. This is a polyphonic book. On the one hand, it follows the movement of a tracking shot through Susan Philips' exhibition at fjk3 - Contemporary Art Space. On the other hand, views of the exhibited artworks are juxtaposed with historical documentary material that provides insights into the artist's thought processes and research work.

"Themes such as movement, separation, and absence are merged with processes such as reflection and projection to create an ensemble of works that explores the architecture of a specific space, engages with its history and unique environment, and seeks to awaken in the viewer an awareness of all these elements in the present moment" Susan Philipsz.