Kathrin Schlegel is a German artist living in Amsterdam. Her work consists of ‘interventions in public space’. A German scholarship enabled her to produce a book which has been brought out by a publishing house that likes to see the work of young artists as the point of departure for broader reflection.
Distillations has itself become a form of public space in that turning a page is rather like rounding a corner – you never know what you’re going to find. This is because the various elements that make up the book – pictures of Schlegel’s work, context photographs, sources of inspiration, reflective textual contributions – are arranged on a spread by spread basis and have at first sight been arbitrarily intercut. Closer inspection convinced the panel that the whole thing has been carefully thought out down to the last detail. Indeed, it has all been done so well that never for a moment does it strike you that only one side of the sheet has been printed in colour.
The tone is restrained, almost like a textbook. It has also been very nicely produced and finished as an elegant hardback with a strong Pantone-printed cover. ‘Attractive and intriguing.’