Anu Vahtra: Untitled

Anu Vahtra’s artists’ book and monograph ’Untitled’ documents ten of her works from 2007–2015. These works combine photography and large-scale installation, investigating found spatial situations. Initiated by the architectural characteristics as well as historical and contextual background of a certain site, they often focus on the exhibition format and specifics of an exhibition space but also tackle issues of public space.

In order to emphasise the spatial quality in Vahtra’s artistic practice, the book format was also approached as a space. Two different types of printing sheets were used: one that folds down to 12 pages and one that folds down to 16 pages. After it was bound, only the bottom edge of the book was trimmed, leaving a number of pages closed, either on the top or along the right edge of the book. This systematic approach defines the structure of the book as well as the layout of its content. The works featured in the book range from two-dimensional compositions to documentation photographs, accompanied by textual details, occasionally bleeding over multiple uncut pages.

The book also includes three separate inserts. In these eight-page booklets, graphic designers Mikk Heinsoo & Kaarel Nõmmik (Stuudio Stuudio), Na Kim, and Jens Schildt & Matthias Kreutzer (Our Polite Society) engage in a dialogue with Vahtra’s works through their own visual contributions.

[Book description by Else Lagerspetz & Loore Sundja, written for Published by Lugemik. Printed matter from 2010–2019]