Other Voices, Other Rooms

This large-format black-and-white photobook featuring bold red typography translates the complexity and raw aesthetic of a public art project in a Zurich police station, curated by Adam Szymczyk, into a book form that is both conceptually and visually striking. Shortly before the new building’s inauguration, it played host to three days of art installations and performances addressing questions of power and the legitimate use of force. As a permanent reminder of the art event, documentary-style black-and-white photographs from the three days were screen-printed onto the exposed concrete walls of the corridors. This publication now presents new large-format frontal photographs of these wall-mounted images, invariably full-bleed on the pages. Alongside the rasterised screen-prints appear large sections of the concrete walls that visually merge with the pages of the book to give the publication an overall grey impression. The only additions are prominent red page numbers and a few keywords, which sometimes run across a double page in large red lettering, evoking the political urgency of the event. The varied distances to the pictures on the walls create different perspectives, as if the reader were walking through the building, which is no longer open to the public. The constant switching between the documentation of the art event and the screen-printed images on the current-day walls presents a perceptual challenge to the reader. And the fascinating use of multiple perspectives is further heightened by two slim inserted volumes that offer a more conventional presentation of the artworks on view during the three-day event.

Editors
Adam Szymczyk, Melanie Hofmann, Lineto – Cornel Windlin, Jonathan Hares, Zürich (CH)

Authors
Various

Design
Lineto – Cornel Windlin, Jonathan Hares, Zürich (CH)

Printing
Druckerei Odermatt, Dallenwil (CH)

Publisher
Scheidegger & Spiess, Zürich (CH)

ISBN
978-3-03942-284-5 (German)
978-3-03942-285-2 (English)