Puklus, Péter: Handbook to the Stars (2012)

Péter PUKLUS’s work of book art represents the workings of the human brain by artistic means. The artist created a chart from juxtaposed photographs, which are connected via small points of contact, like the stars, which we can connect to form constellations. First the chart made up of the photos was cut up for the purposes of a photo-book, in which most of the photographs appeared in an incomplete form. After the photo-book was published, the artist realized that the original chart could be reconstructed by placing the open books side by side, or by letting them overlap each other. Thus the fragmentary photos became complete again in a wall-mounted installation, which upsets our customary perception of time. Every page of the book can be seen at the same time, undermining the concepts of classical narration and linearly progressing time. With one book held in place by the weight of another, there is a sense of the whole floating in timelessness.

S. Zs.