Artistic contributions by:
Blue Curry
Veronika Hauer
Andreas Heller
Lala Rascic
Peter Sommerauer

Edited by Eva Martischnig

In the context of the duo show of Miriam Bajtala and Blue Curry the book NN (working title) will be presented as it features a contribution by Blue Curry amongst other international artists.

The production and publication of art and the conditions involved (here they take the form of a book contribution) are the challenges met by the invited artists Blue Curry, Veronika Hauer, Andreas Heller, Lala Rascic and Peter Sommerauer. The five contributions in this book deal with the various aspects of art production and the public.

Art and its message:

Art is one of the few realms in life where purpose has no priority. Public funding means that it is buffered from the usual laws of economics where supply and demand determine production. It will not comply with the desires of the audience and, in most cases, the opposite applies: mass suitability will be critically questioned or ironically overstated. In any case, contemporary art production is aimed at the general public as its audience even though it is not guided by its taste. Art utilizes different channels to reach a public which itself is very heterogeneous: unconcerned passers-by, interested enthusiasts and art scene insiders are addressed according to the intention of the artistic work. The type of audience actually generated is closely connected to the form of the presentation and the particular medium used to transport the artistic message.

Tautological function:

The book in this project not only has relevance as a carrier of content but also as an object itself. Each cover is hand-printed with sun cream by Blue Curry and each issue is hand-signed by Veronika Hauer. So the book has a tautological function: it lays claim to being an art object itself but conversely it serves as a means of publicizing the artistic contributions therein. As is quite typical for artist's books, the loss of aura (see Walter Benjamin) through mass production is opposed by the gesture of the unique. This influences the value attributed to the book as object. The touch of the hand of the artist charges the book with the meaning of an art object itself. Both Blue and Veronika subvert this uniqueness of the artists' gesture by utilizing an assembly-line production method (Veronika even employs helping hands to give her signature to each and every book). Production and presentation of the contributions relate to each other in a circular reference.

In conceiving their contributions the artists involved have each worked with the challenge this project set them: to examine and engage with the various stages through which contemporary art must pass, from its conception to its production and ultimately its communication to the audience, may it be the public. .

We would like to thank the funding bodies which made this publication possible:
Land Steiermark Kultur, BMUKK, Stadt Graz Kultur.

Published by FORUM STADTPARK, Graz 2010
ISBN-13978-3-901109-27-0