Is this a printer displaying his skills or is it really a proper catalogue? Both, the panel decided. Cross-Examinations accompanied a number of exhibitions in Antwerp’s Extra City gallery, asking questions, from a variety of perspectives, about artistic responsibility and ‘agency’: ‘An accumulation of evidence and truths, an investigation into artistic methods of verification and the capacity of art to disentangle a historical situation.’
In their quest for an adequate translation of this the makers have taken risks, briefly experimenting with a swift succession of forms. One panel member thought it ‘a Tipp-Ex catalogue’, what with all that crossing-out, so that ‘what’s been deleted almost becomes an illustration,’ while at the same time the book exhibits some of the characteristics of an encyclopedia. There is much experimentation with fonts and this makes for a somewhat unpredictable effect, like the chapters printed alternately on black and white paper. ‘The impudence of bringing it out this way is extraordinarily agreeable,’ another member of the panel observed with conviction. ‘You can see the overprinting. You accept it as it stands. The concept is anything but a quick snack.’
On a small scale this is an artist book – and the further you let yourself sink into it, the better it gets, was the resounding conclusion. Not least thanks to the multiple passes through the press.