THE STRANGEST COPY CENTER I’VE EVER USED
THE EARLY ESPRESSO BOOK MACHINE OR ONLY A SIMPLE PLAGIARISM?
How can curatorial selection processes be presented as part of an artistic work in museum contexts? How can interactive internet applications be transferred to physical space? Where does it lead when authorship is extended to the visitor? The installation Phenotypes / Limited Forms from ARMIN LINKE (born 1966, lives and works in Berlin) could offer some answers. Maybe Linke has invented the ESPRESSO BOOK MACHINE (EBM – http://www.ondemandbooks.com/the_ebm.htm ), one of the Best Inventions of 2007, long before its introduction into the market. But it could also be the case that he has devoloped his PHENOTYPES after he has explored the EBM. The answer is blowing in the wind!
Exploring the meaning of the individual image within a picture archive, illustrating the conditions of its production and use. Relocating Armin Linke′s photo archive into the museum space, the installation takes the artist′s studio situation and proposes a serviceable experimental arrangement: the visitor can view a thousand images, select works, group them, present a selection on the wall, print their selection as a unique edition, the title assigned is then projected in the exhibition space. These actions of individuals become the basis from which later visitors are received. The installation builds on the concept of a virtual book on demand accessible through arminlinke.com. The project is the formed through the cooperation between Armin Linke, Peter Hanappe (Sony Computer Science Laboratory, Paris), Alex Rich (London), Peter Weibel (ZKM), and the programme in exhibition design and curatorial practice at the Hochschule für Gestaltung. The resulting collective process of selection from Linke′s photo archive confirms that Phenotypes / Limited Forms is not a finished object for presentation but rather a space for production.
