Tenant of Culture
A monograph on the Dutch artist Tenant of Culture transposes artistic processes into the medium of the book in surprising ways. The artist (whose real name is Hendrickje Schimmel) glues, sews and ties discarded clothes together to make eclectic objects, and the book is likewise made up of different components. The cover, with a large photo printed on it, consists of two layers of a hard cardboard sewn to the book block on the inside, while the spine has a piece of mull glued over it. Inside, large detail views of the sculptures are presented first on a thin high-gloss paper, leaving a narrow white margin free to one side. They are followed by an illustrated essay on light pink paper and then the central picture section containing different-sized photos showing overall views of the objects, each individually on over 50 pages of a thicker high-gloss paper. Finally, a cutting pattern of very thin paper featuring a conversation with the artist on the reverse is folded and bound into the book. Here, the typeface and layout are markedly different from the essay, so that each section of the book has not only its own materiality but also its own design identity. Nevertheless, the result is a harmonious object, as with the sculptures of Tenant of Culture.
