New artist books
Issue 04/2024 "Funfair"
The funfair is always a place of longing for children. My new artist's book is called "Kirmes".
This time, the book presentation of my artist's book "Kirmes" took place in Hamburg at the Museum der Arbeit. It was a great pleasure for me to watch how a slight turning movement of the carousel enchanted the people at my stand and a smile appeared on their faces. Many thanks to all visitors for the many conversations, to the organizers of BuchDruckKunst 2024 at the Museum der Arbeit for the smooth running of the fair, and to NDR for filming my stand for the Hamburg Journal at the beginning of the fair.
As always, you can read more about the new artist's book in the free magazine "Buchkunstwelten" (free download).
Link: Download the free magazine "Buchkunstwelten"
Link: To the mail address
Issue 05/2023 "The dance".
"The dance".
Once again I was able to complete a new work. I have been interested in dance ever since I learned to dance. Translating musical poetry into movement is the fascinating thing about dance. Anyone who dances has to be completely in the now. This is the only way to merge with and surrender to the music.
Dance makes it possible to reproduce every human experience, i.e. to transform it into movement.
Gerd J. Wunderer
As always, you can read more about the new artist's book in the free magazine "Buchkunstwelten" (free download).
Link: Download the free magazine "Buchkunstwelten"
Link: To the mail address
Ausgabe 03/2023 " The Barque of Life ".
„The Barque of Life“.
It was a visit to the harbour city of Genoa that gave me the idea of creating an artist's book with the title "The Barque of Life".
The brilliant idea came to me in a café in Via Garibaldi. There, in an adjoining room, hung a small barque made of brass. This work gave me the inspiration for the new book title. Life in all ist its ups and downs was repeatedly defined as a defined as a journey, in my case as a sea voyage.
As always, you can read more about and about the new artist's book in the free magazine "Buchkunstwelten" (free download).
Link: Download the free magazine "Buchkunstwelten".
link: To the mail address
"Longing for Spring".
It was these dark, cloudy days that allowed the idea for my new work to mature. When will the sun finally come again with its pleasant warmth, the spring. I feel this longing every year anew.
Again and again I think about what would happen if the trees did not sprout, did not blossom and did not produce a harvest this year. Year after year, these thoughts run through my head. The idea of turning them into an artist's book was not far away.
The title for my new work was quickly found: Longing for Spring!
Link: "Longing for spring":
„Lifelines – Franziska de Paly – 1879-1964“.
Once again an extensive artistic work has come to its final conclusion. In mid-June 2022, I had the idea to deal with the exciting life of my grandmother. This examination led me to look at her life year by year and to place it in the respective political environment, or rather, which inventions and discoveries were made during this time.
During the artistic work, in addition to the artist's book and the film for the book, a completely different, completely new, special idea crystallised. I wanted to take up a completely different artistic dimension. Paper sculptures were to become the basis for a film in the form of a concertante, digital opera, arranged in a modern paper theatre. The basis for the plot and the stage design is the artist's book Lebenslinien that was created. Which can also be experienced three-dimensionally through its transformation into paper sculptures.
The title of my new artist's book is: "Lifelines - Franziska de Paly - 1879-1964".
Opera as an art form
Since the discovery of opera as a musical art form in the years 1539 - 1589, this form of musical expression has continued to evolve until today. For my work, I have decided to expand the opera partly by the digital form. The mode of expression is oriented towards concertante opera, i.e. without the musical vocal performance. What counts are the sculptures and the music. In its musical form, this work is very close to the compositions of John Cage.
Look at my work like a dream, non-existent, but nevertheless present. Some things will open up to the viewer, others not immediately, some will accompany him a little longer until he finds a meaningful connection, a solution to his questions. Be curious about this experience.
The transformation of my artist's book into an opera is a consequence of the transition from the two-dimensional book into the world of three-dimensional figures. Their construction with coloured paper was a very demanding work. The basis was colourful, spatulaed tadelakt paper with a strong, bizarre colourfulness. The special feel of the papers used inevitably led to a reduction and abstraction of the sculptures with a unique effect.
The production of the sculptures, props and backdrops were a great challenge that took a lot of time and effort.
Let yourself be emotionally carried away by the film "Lifelines * Franziska de Paly * 1879-1964" on YouTube.
Link to the film of the digital opera "Lifelines - Franziska de Paly - 1879-1964".
Artist books
The Countryman Lenz
This time you get an insight into an artist's book that has been completed in the meantime. This time, unusually, I started with the pictures. Based on the tadelakt technique, the paint was first applied to tissue paper with palette knives. After the drying process, I let myself be inspired by the effect of the resulting picture and worked out the image with charcoal, which showed itself to me after drying. The pictures are now finished. Afterwards I worked on the text of the book. It was absolutely exciting work.
The picture shows the front of the painted wooden cover.
The book with its slipcase.
A page from the book. You can read more about the book in my free magazine "Buchkunstwelten" under Download
Artist's book "From the past, into the present and into the future".
With the artist's book I wanted to show that it is essential to be in the present and to live neither in the past nor in a possible future that may come quite differently. Fears of the future can paralyse. This feeling can lead to absolute standstill. It is important to find confidence in a successful life, to find it again in the here and now, not sometime in the far future. Today, the now, decides on tomorrow. It is about human perception, about being awake and staying awake, about becoming awake to the presence in the here and now, which makes it possible to find a firm footing, even when situations seem unmanageable.
Throughout the year
Every year in spring and autumn the starlings gather on an old telephone line after their outward and return flights.
It is a natural spectacle every time they come or go. When they come, the birds are for me the first harbingers of spring, bringing with them confidence in a new year, that soon nature will awaken to new life.
In autumn, when they fly back, melancholy prevails before the approaching winter season.
This interplay of coming and going inspired me to write an artist's book about starlings.
The Unicorn
The unicorn is a mythical creature that is always perceived as existing in our culture. But does a unicorn still exist, or did one ever exist?
Fascinating, apart from this question, is the fact that this idea of the unicorn spans the entire European-Asian area.
The book is largely chronological, but also attempts to show simultaneous developments.
The sketchbook for the unicorn book:
Too little love!
How long has it been?
Once I'm Gone.
These three artist's books from 2016 and 2020 presented in the latest issue of Buchkunstwelten, were created through an artist collaboration between Eckhard Koenig (Berlin) and Gerd J. Wunderer (Augsburg).