On Art Book Publishing
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On Art Book Publishing This issue of Estonian Art focuses on the phenomena of art book publishing in Estonia. The rise of independent book publishers run by and for the artistic community has become a notable trend in how contemporary Estonian art and design is conceptualized and distributed both locally and internationally. From the Lugemik Bookshop in the yard of the Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia in Tallinn to ;paranoia publishing group ltd’s bookshop in Tartu Art Museum—art publishers in Estonia has reconfigured the current cultural climate. We trace the lifeline of art publication from concept and design to the publishing house floor. The story of art book publications and independent publishing in Estonia is told by eight authors. Marika Agu talks to Kiwa about ;paranoia publishing and considers the effects of ;paranoia publishing group ltd. Ott Kagovere writes about Lugemik and graphic design in Estonia. Martin Rünk talks to the editors of the multi-media publication project New Material and New Number. Andreas Trossek, editor of Estonia’s oldest art magazine, talks about KUNST.EE and the digital turn and Laura Kuusk and Pascale Riou speak about the Side Effects book and projects. There is a photo essay by Liina Siib on Tallinn Book Printers and artwork by Triin Tamm. ART PUBLISHING ARCHITECTURE 3 Marika Agu 46 Tüüne-Kristin Vaikla ;paranoia—See Where it Takes You The Story of Memory Field 7 Ott Kagovere 55 Francisco Martinez Lugemik: Books That Speak Aesthetics of Amalgamation Volumes About Themselves 58 Angela Wheeler 10 Martin Rünk The Pleasurable Aspects of Notes on New Number Breakdown 14 Andreas Trossek 61 Carl-Dag Lige Art Journals and Magazines after The Baltic Exchange the Digital Turn. The KUNST.EE Example 18 Laura Kuusk BOOKS From, To, By, For and With 68 22 Liina Siib Tallinn Book Printers EXHIBITIONS 69 ART 30 Maria Jäärats A National Landscape 33 Kati D. Kivinen Overseas Shopping—A Tale of a Museum Collection 37 Pau Waelder A Place Called Home DESIGN 40 Triin Jerlei Nostalgia in Estonian Design 42 Ott Kagovere In Search of Meaning Marika Agu ;paranoia— See Where It retrospective “Autoportait with the Unknown” Art at Tartu Museum. Marika Agu (b. 1989) is a curator and art critic; in 2015 she curated Kiwa’s Takes You The heyday of institutionally promoting creative in- of literature, the publishing house positions itself as dustries has passed in Estonia, and among its effects part of the performance art scene, creating impressive we can find interesting outcomes at the intersection shows for each book launch. of visual arts and publishing. Contemporary artists have been compelled to acquire market vocabulary, ;paranoia is seemingly run by a number of high-rank- tools and reasoning, and ;paranoia publishing group ing directors (managing, general, creative, art and a is an example, although an ironic one. director of the board of directors), as well as several heads of departments (n0rmc0re, columnists, trans- ;paranoia publishing group was founded by the mul- lation, AV solutions, personnel, photo and manu- timedia artist Kiwa in 2014. Its brand reproduces the scripts). At the top sits the president of the corpo- aesthetic of a global corporation, creating the impres- ration: Dr. M. Valdemar. To the general public, he’s sion of an elitist cultural product. Indeed, its logo known as Paavo Matsin, a member of the experimen- seems to have spread all over the world—Hong Kong, tal literature group 14 NÜ, which was active in the London, Los Angeles, Kolõvan (an ancient name for mid-1990s in Estonia. Tallinn), Paris and Tokyo—with its head-office ap- parently in Tallinn. ;paranoia insists on providing the In the same vein as 14 NÜ, ;paranoia publishing literary market with the most abnormal texts, intend- group’s product presentations are spectacular events, ing “to achieve consumer satisfaction and destruction with emphasis on attractive performances instead of of reality”. just reading texts to audiences. At the inauguration of ;paranoia and the presentation of their “Anthology ;paranoia focuses on experimental literature. One of of Non-Existent Books”, Dr. M. Valdemar conducted its goals is to produce a sense of estrangement in lan- an alchemical ritual. On many occasions, ;paranoia guage and to deliberately challenge what is familiar. hijacks some bigger event, for example the opening Starting with their name: instead of referring to the of the 16th Tallinn Print Triennial at KUMU. This psychological condition “paranoia”, it derives from strategy guaranteed a large audience, including the the Fenno-Ugric words para (absolute) and noid (sha- Minister of Culture, which would otherwise require man/stalker). Aside from producing intriguing works huge communication and advertising efforts. 5 ;paranoia mascot. Photo: ;paranoia mascot. Photo: ;paranoia publishing The launch of Neon Black (Neoonmust), a magazine ested in authors who are not attractive to mainstream of fictional tabloid articles, represents the other end of publishers and whose manuscripts have been rejected their agenda. The event was promoted through yellow (e.g. Valegiid by T. Novek), or who don’t intend to journalism and was attended by local socialites, which publish their texts in the first place (e.g. “Psaiko” by is an exceptional achievement for a publishing house Psaiko). The latest issue of the so-called Beloved Clas- of experimental literature. In its press release, Neon sics series is by R. Velbaum, a notorious situationist, Black was described as a new international trend mag- whose aphorisms wouldn’t have come to the surface azine, which “is now accessible also to the Estonian from the underground club scene of Tallinn without reader”. Actually, the magazine had never been pub- the initiative of ;paranoia publishing. lished abroad though ;paranoia’s website refers to the non-existent product through fictional cover designs. In this regard, Kiwa works as the PR manager for But, who cares? What’s important here seems to be experimental art and literature, bringing readers to the desire to play with the norms of capitalist con- unknown phenomena. The large network of people sumer society and induce desire through appearance. whom he has gathered in the functioning of ;para- Creating a glitzy image for oneself is common nowa- noia publishing guarantees its unpredictability. Even days; people are famous for being famous, for no appar- though the publishing house has a seat for a president, ent reason. this is rather symbolic. In reality ;paranoia publish- ing is lead by incidentalism: every member of the It is not possible to find the edition number or the so-called corporation may shape market relations. year of publishing on Neon Black’s cover, so its sus- Indeed, ;paranoia’s slogan, “see where it takes you”, tainability is not guaranteed. The idea of a tabloid rag delivers on its promise: all that one has to have is curi- is created, producing everything around it, except for osity and a sense of irony. the magazine itself. The texts inside are fictional, -al though inspired by real-life events. For example the article “Mel Kaldalu osutus SNOWDENIKS” [Mel Marika Agu Kaldalu turned out to be SNOWDEN] refers to the media-trickster and political activist Meelis Kaldalu, Interview with Kiwa who stole a computer from the parliament building in 2013. MARIKA AGU What is ;paranoia that other publishing houses One shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but it is ev- are not? ident that the majority of ;paranoia products (27 works released so far) are distinctive because of their ;paranoia clinically clean layout and occasionally toxic neon co- ;paranoia publishing is a metamedium. besides lours. The laconic style attracts with its lack of pre- producing printed matter, we deterritorialize tentiousness. The products are designed by the noted every single phenomenon in the broad field that graphic designer Tuuli Aule, with whom Kiwa start- connects text production and consumption, ed co-operation back in 2004, when he published his usage of language, words, letters and punc- first book Roboti tee on nihe / Salatühik. (The way of tuation marks, the imperative notion of litera- the Robot is the Shift / Secret Void). ture and ego-centred narrative techniques, the post-market situation, the current indie-pub- Aule has managed to create a signature style for a lishing wave and books as tactile multiple ar- large variety of products. To illustrate the scope, there tefacts (we do exclusive small editions, usually is a colouring book (TKUN ORHA PNUL by M. from 50 to 500). we value the self-filling of the Kleis and R. Jakapi), post-cards (by H. Hütt and E. text, and question the established hierarchies Müürsepp), a music album (“Memorial”, by Cubus of meaning within the semiosphere. Larvik), a magazine (Neoonmust), a reference book (the 1st volume of A List of Every Band Ever, by Cel- instead of a homogenetic perspective, we mod- er Tambre), a book of verse with accompanying CD el a space of dynamic interpretations on the (“Sulgunud ruum”, by Joanna Ellmann and Kiwa), polysemic horizon at a certain level of different along with rather normal textbooks, although there’s and distinguishable structural, material and po- nothing normal about their content. ;paranoia is inter- litical apparatuses. 7 we function as a black square, as a gateway to the isolator is a personal white cube for productive untitled experiences and as a network of cogni- alienation. cutting off outside stimuli is a perfect tonauts. condition where the mind experiences the void and starts hallucinating. the isolator is modelled after hugo MA Your co-operation with the designer Tuuli Aule gernsbeck’s prototype from 1925. began back in 2004 when she designed your book Roboti tee on nihe / Salatühik (The Way of MA What’sthe import-export strategy of ;paranoia? Which the Robot is The Shift / A Secret Void), which writers and artists do you generally choose to pub- is very unconventional in form and content: the lish and what is the target group for them? text is ordered in a way that it can be read in an infinite number of ways.