Franz West Book order

This book makes Franz West’s Notes available for the first time to English-speaking readers. West began writing in 1975 and text soon became one of his working tools, to the extend that it is impossible to imagine his oeuvre without it. He frequently added text to his objects, continuing sculptural expression in the realm of language without illustrating or explaning his work. West’s Notes often read like intriguing cryprograms from the lab of a linguistic alchemist. These writings accompany Franz West’s entite career and illustrate the relationship between text and sculpture in his oeuvre.

Dieser Band ist ein Parcours durch das Werk Franz Wests: In vier groß angelegten Kapiteln mit unterschiedlichen Papierqualitäten geht der Leser dieses luxuriösen Bandes auf die Reise. In jedem Kapitel findet sich eine andere Station, man betritt Wests Werk mit den berühmten „Paßstücken“ und frühen Installationen, geht weiter zu mehr als 50 bislang unveröffentlichten Collagen aus dem Privatbesitz des Künstlers, sieht dann die Arbeiten aus der Werkgruppe „Sisyphos“ (2002), drei neue „Placebos“ (2003) sowie Installationen aus den Jahren 1998–2003. Schließlich beeindruckt im vierten und letzten Kapitel das neueste Projekt des Künstlers: die Krone. West nennt seine Arbeit denn auch „Corona“.

Since the mid-1970s, prominent Austrian artist Franz West has created objects in which use is the most important criterion for reception. After creating "Fittings," plaster and papier-mache objects meant to be attached to the human body and interacted with by their wearer, and their logical extension, "seating equipment," West sought to create a setting for a new kind of experience. Merciless presents little-seen work which West has constructed over the past five years and which addresses these late concerns. Of special focus is an expansive installation West developed for the MAK in Vienna, the largest of his completed works to date.

An introduction to the Viennese artist's work is accompanied by an interview, commentaries, and details about his most recent assemblies and sculptures.